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.