I only skip ones which are about something I actively dislike, or when I encounter an absurd situation like a 3.5 minute ad stuck in front of a 30 second video.
I watch the ones that amuse me, even if I have no intention of buying the product/service. I particularly enjoy those Zoosk ads with the brunette and her anthropomorphic heart.
“Liz! Liz!”
I do think they could do away with the long-form commercials, though. It’s kind of silly when the 30-second video I want to watch is preceded by a 3-minute commercial. That’s when I hit “Skip Ad”.
I usually skip the ads if possible. The only exception is when I’m watching original content by someone making their living on Youtube if the ad is a reasonable length. I’ll skip any ad longer than a minute no matter what video it’s attached to.
At least you aren’t trying to make it a moral argument. Or, worse, forbidding people from even discussing it. Because those are surefire ways to make it where I block you indefinitely (or at least until you do something above and beyond that I must reward you for.) The way you ask here is exactly the right way to do it. Just ask.
Unfortunately, you’ve chosen the one website that makes it rather inconvenient to not block ads if you’re the type who blocks ads as a general rule. It’s either all or nothing on YouTube. Since none of the URLs of your videos include your channel, there’s no way I can unblock ads on a channel-by-channel basis. And by the time I’ve decided I want to unblock just for your video, I’ve already seen it and missed the ads. You’ve got to be absolutely amazing for me to go to trouble of unblocking and then watching your video again.
I do do it on Blip, as they do (or at least can) include your channel name in your URL. I will also do it if you have your own website, although, due to the way YouTube works, that may or may not allow you to see the ads from YouTube, just the ones on your site.