

Adblock/revanced are working. Google’s ad revenue is getting squeezed and so they need to shoehorn more ads everywhere to get the same revenue levels, since so many people never see the ads.
Keep using them. You’re making business really difficult for scummy Google.
The $ revenue share to creators per video view has dropped, even though the percentage of Google’s ad revenue shared with the creator has remained the same. So to me this means Google is earning less per video view. (That could also be just a result of the ad market in general collapsing, eg advertisers just pay less)
Also, Google has added new requirements to get the video share. You need to post new videos at a regular cadence, or they kick you out–even if your old videos are still getting views. (began being enforced in 2023, I think). Its another way they can keep their revenue numbers looking OK by cutting a cost associated with older videos.
Google has also escalated their efforts to make it more difficult to view content without also viewing the ads.
So maybe its wishful thinking, but I think they are feeling the squeeze.
Unfortunately unlike the reddit or twitter situations its significantly harder to accumulate enough fresh video content to attract the views necessary to get the ball rolling and make a shift away from YouTube.