Without commenting on Google[1], I think this sort of thing is true in the short term but less true in the long term. I expect that, were Chrome to ban ad blockers, technical folks will start to teach non-technical folks in their orbit how to e.g. install Firefox to regain ad-blocking capability. I think it would take some number of years but there would be a pushback in the medium- to long-term.

1. Googler, opinion solely my own.

They'd massively alienate a large and motivated subset userbase with the ability to build viable alternatives to Google products or at least build more active means to cirvumvent their platform restrictions.

I think you are unfortunately correct about this.

I am consistently blown away when I inadvertently experience the Internet without ad-blocking. It’s absolute garbage.

I am sad that people are either OK with this or don’t care. For many they don’t know any better, and asking many of those same groups to install and manage plugins is a fraught request.

Why do you think everybody switched from IE to Chrome? Because their tech friends told them to or did it for them.

The day Chrome can't sufficiently block ads anymore is the day Chrome dies.

Do you remember IE exodus to Firefox pre-2010? Yeah Google better watch its hyperback.

Are they? I block ads on YouTube and I’m still allowed watch videos.

I suspect they have silently stopped blocking ad blockers.

I remember there was a lot of reports about this being the case, but there is no way I am not blocking Google.