While I largely agree with you, I think a lot of people are in an annoying in-between when it comes to buying a Youtube subscription. I maybe watch 5 minutes a day, averaged out. That's not nearly enough to make it worth it to me to buy a subscription. On the other hand, the ads have gotten really annoying. Being able to skip after 5 seconds on most is nice, but I'd almost rather they were just 10 seconds long and unskippable. It's frustrating to watch 5 seconds, skip, and then immediately need to do that again, especially if it's something you have on 'in the background.'
If they had one based on a scale of how many videos you watch, I'd be much more keen. Of course, I expect they wouldn't do that for multiple reasons.
I once had a website that would have been profitable if not for ad blockers, so I definitely get it. I don't know what the real solution is. Ideally they could block ad blockers and then keep the number of ads under control, but I doubt they'd actually reduce the numbers if they did manage to stop ad blockers.
Infrequent use is an interesting use-case. Assuming no friction (no sign up, no tracking, etc - completely hypothetical) - would you pay 5 cents, or 25 cents, to watch a video once? Ignore the details - just in sprit, would you do it?
I'd imagine I'd want it to be time based, not per video, but yeah. I'd probably want a counter right on the page of how much I've spent, and perhaps a toggle right up there if I decide I've spent enough that month and would rather have ads again.
For your actual numbers, 5 cents would be fine. I don't think I'd go for 25 cents.
If they had one based on a scale of how many videos you watch, I'd be much more keen. Of course, I expect they wouldn't do that for multiple reasons.
I once had a website that would have been profitable if not for ad blockers, so I definitely get it. I don't know what the real solution is. Ideally they could block ad blockers and then keep the number of ads under control, but I doubt they'd actually reduce the numbers if they did manage to stop ad blockers.