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> The long vision is a direct threat to the way they operate, and to the very question of whether or not they should exist.

I don't see how that's true?

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Take Basic Attention Token (https://basicattentiontoken.org/) as an example - it is attempting to remove YouTube as an advertising middle-man that controls and takes a cut of ad revenue. By creating a marketplace where advertisers pay content creators directly, it in my mind represents a direct threat to how YouTube operates today.

> how YouTube operates today

You mean, paying for the infrastructure with ads? As soon as most of that money is routed elsewhere, YouTube has little other option than to invoice operation costs with creators (or shut down the service). The BAT doesn't provide a solution for hosting.

That's the point. Now they take most of the profits from the content because they provide monetization and infrastructure. Once they are providing only infrastructure, they can only charge for infrastructure. They will still make money, but much less of it.

I'm less concerned with the amount of money flowing to YT, but the logistics. The hassle free "upload stuff, and if you're popular there's a button to add ads" model wouldn't work. The first interaction with YouTube as a publisher would be a form to enter credit card data.

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