I don't understand this viewpoint. There are plenty of us who find YouTube useful and willing to pay for the service. I'm not as sure as you are that an exodus will happen.
Definitely not giving Google any money.
Is it really worth $13.99 to die on - nope it is not.
I recently got mad that the Wendy's biggy bag went to $7 and eat out less because I'm not paying $10+ for a single meal unless it's something I can't (easily) make at home. You can't get Subway for less than $12, and it's a fucking sandwich.
Most of my frivolous spending is on caffeine and THC. If I manage to cut those two out I'd save a bunch but then what would I have fun with? :(
It has been a decade since we had a TV in our household - it just laptops, tablets, phones and a PS5 for my gamer kid - so it's just Spotify/Youtube for them plus TikTok for downtime.
I rarely watch movies - think Spiderman No Way Home was the last one.
What's your local price for weed? Is the hours of entertainment from YouTube not worth a joint or whatever?
Youtube is a place for me to listen to game OSTs. A weekend with VPN access and the right protocols could make my entire usage of the site obsolete.
Google simply doesn't do anything worthy of my money. Google and all its properties could disappear tomorrow and my personal computing would barely be affected. Same for Microsoft. There are ways to insulate yourself from being treated like a wallet to dip into at will.