That’s a heck of a reason to not like YouTube? lol

😂 It's not the only reason. My videos also get 0 views now. The algos are too gamified. Every video is forced to have a thumbnail photo of someone with their mouth hanging open. It's just annoying.

Me, not seeing ads on YouTube, ever (no I don't have Premium, either, I'm cheap asf)

Invidious is a pretty good option to block ads. I prefer watching YouTube videos on this. NewPipe is also good.