YouTube premium is $17 a month in my market. I'm not paying $17 a month to remove ads from YouTube tier content. I'd pay $2 a month tops. Netflix is $22 a month for premium and Amazon Prime is $10 a month. YouTube does not even come close to providing similar value as those services. I'm not interested in any of the other junk they force you to buy with YouTube premium, it's just bundling to inflate the cost.
For me it’s about where I’m spending my time (YouTube), not so much the pure cost to make the content itself (Netflix, etc.). I spend far more time watching YouTube than anything else, background and foreground, which makes the $15 or whatever (am in the US, I don’t actually know what I pay because I’ve never questioned its value to me unlike Netflix, etc.) worth it to me.
I think it’s totally fair if you don’t think it’s worth it for you though. I’m very willing to (and have!) cancel most other services (except for Max which I get for “free” from my ISP) in favor of YouTube because I find the content far more engaging and I can tailor it to my interests far better.
I’ll also add that a decent chunk of my viewing is on mobile (phone or iPad) where ad blocking isn’t slightly more difficult using the YouTube native app.
Do you get to the checkout line and name your price to the store because you’re “not paying $6 for that sandwich since I don’t like the bread they used and don't plan to eat it” too?
Not saying that $17 a month is a fair price, but we should not forget that "YouTube tier content" includes all the music. Its value is a solid 10$ a month imho.
