You're right, I thought google hadn't bought them until much later.

Anyway, I have zero expectation of a site like Youtube "reversing" its monetization. I'm supporting this move because that noose will only get tighter and tighter if we don't start establishing a healthier ecosystem for a domain so fresh to our society

When I look at what the company has done to YouTube in the name of advertising, it's very difficult for me to say they are "looking out for the little guy." Today's Alphabet (along with the rest of corporate‐managed internet) pushes for content consumption, not generation.

The little guy used to be able to use Google and Youtube to break down the walls that bloated industries put before us (I'm talking right-to-repair, product reviews, etc). We still have this, but as advertising gets pushed more and more it gets harder and harder to reach it.

I'm grateful for what we have and the amazing tools that our industries have developed, but if we dont start breaking up these guys now innovation is probably going to falter. Why innovate for the people when there's so much more money in advertising to them?

Not to mention the quality of their search engine has tanked recently because... why care about the user when you make so much money off of advertising to the world?

I hear you and completely agree.

I think it just matters a lot less to Alphabet if users like you or me are satisfied with search functionality, because we don't exactly have a choice when it comes to video sharing/viewing... unless it's on ANOTHER corporate owned platform that will inevitably shift more and more towards appeasing advertisers (such as reddit- we're seeing this site drive ads and content consumption more and more each passing year).

So what I'm saying is I'm with you- we used to have a BEAUTIFUL set of tools built up via the internet, but they were scooped up by systems that are designed to turn a profit. Good for business, bad for progress and growth. Maybe some people like that, but I hate it.

It drives me crazy too. Alphabet is in the advertising business now though, right? They have no stake in YouTube's functionality for the user, aside from delivering the advertisements they're paid to deliver. Why prioritize search functionality when it doesn't directly help bring in the money?

YouTube was content from the people and for the people. Now it's content from corporations and for corporations.