Only they are doing it on channels with out enough viewers to choose those options. Shady af.
To be honest I'm surprised so many video's have been hosted without ads while the creators cash in outside of Google.
That has been the service since release, so yes.
Yes, because I am making content for them for free. It is unpaid labor on my part in exchange for free hosting. Now it is unpaid labor that makes them money.
YouTube is a business.
Hosting and serving your content costs them money.
If your content provides no means to recoup those costs, you’re not doing them a favor, they’re doing you a favor.
But you did ask youtube to host for free.