It's bullshit. They suddenly changed their metrics and views dropped sharply. The amount of people not using adblockers is staggering. Most people I know had to be made aware they existed and there are many more who watch YouTube through their smartphone app where there are no adblockers.
If you wanted me specifically to watch your videos, you'd stop putting ads in every 2 minutes. It makes the videos unwatchable. But also, I'd only watch directly if the video weren't on YouTube. Fuck them and their monopoly. They can only sustain it because of Google Search (or what's left of that service).