"I can somewhat see them doing this to "fight" adblock but, this still implies that if you don't pay, you'll get ads which will just end up getting blocked anyway. At least the way I sees is anyway. Even so, if YT somehow does something to force the ads, all the filter lists of adblock will just simply update or add it to their list. I would or maybe wouldn't be shocked if this is like one part of a ploy related to their live streaming (a.k.a. pulling a Twitch) but, i wouldn't read too much into that little theory. Also, if I remember right, YT already had something similar where partnered channels can make it so you pay to subscribe to see said channel's content" - Outsanity