We're heading back to the 2000s. I fully expect YouTube to put ads into premium eventually. You are too valuable a commodity to them to do otherwise. (If you think you are a customer then lol, the advertisers are the customers)
I did a mental double-take when I once listened to a friend in ad tech describe his business. To refer to people who used ad-rich apps, he used the word “inventory”. This inventory is what they were selling to their customers, the advertisers.
I’m sure this is old news to a lot of people, but the use of that specific word neatly and fully betrays the shift in perspective that is natural and necessary in ad tech.
I feel fortunate that I can comfortably choose to never work at an ad-supported business.
