I support a _shitpile_ of creators on Patreon and Kofi and more. I subscribe to Nebula, and I get as much as I can from the creators' own pages on those services.

I'm doing my best to move my viewing off of YouTube, and move the money off of YouTube, in hopes that it eases the creators moving off of YouTube.

But you'll invariably watch from a way way bigger shitpile of creators, so without some more efficient mechanism you won't be able to spread your support properly

Google’s way of spreading that support is truly the most efficient (10s to 100s of millions per year right to the CEOs pocket).

Had me in the first half...

This is a problem itching for a solution. I'm determined to find a solution other than Youtube.

It's not stealing from creators. The creators have an agreement with Google not with me. If they feel they have been shorted, they can take it up with Google.

Ah, the old "stealing" line.

If watching with an adblocker is stealing because the video creator doesn't get ad revenue, is not watching also stealing, since they also don't get revenue? If not, how is one taking from them and the other not? What have they lost in the first case but not in the second?

It costs money to serve video. In exchange for being served the video, you watch the ad. By not watching the ad, you're stealing from YouTube and creators.

The alternative is not watching them, not paying. Revenue is unchanged.