Another great article from 404 Media highlighting the power that the tech giants have amassed over how how we use the internet.
This brings me, I think, to the elephant in the room, which is the fact that Google has its hands on quite literally every aspect of this entire saga as a vertically integrated adtech giant.
This extreme power over the adtech and online advertising ecosystem is one of the subjects of an FTC antitrust suit against Google.
The reason there is no competitor is that YT was intentionally run at a loss for years to quench all other video hosting platforms and establish a monopoly.
Alternatives do exist but they are irrelevant because the vast majority of content is now being uploaded to the biggest platform. Which is precisely in accordance to YT’s plan.