Your last suggestion is basically what YouTube premium offers. I don’t think I would personally watch ads voluntarily, but I’ve seen similar systems in some games. Smite (at least used to) let you watch ads to get gems that you can use to buy cosmetics.
There’s a very simple solution to this, and I’m honestly not quite sure why no one is doing it.
Make ads voluntary. Make them separate from the rest of the experience.
Make it so that you can watch ads and answer surveys based off of the ads in order to get credits which then allow you to watch videos.
Alternatively, make it so that you can purchase the credits out right.
Everyone fucking wins.
I don’t know why people are so stupid as to not even contemplate the easiest and most satisfying solution to all of the problems.
Your last suggestion is basically what YouTube premium offers. I don’t think I would personally watch ads voluntarily, but I’ve seen similar systems in some games. Smite (at least used to) let you watch ads to get gems that you can use to buy cosmetics.