Checked, they said adblockers were difficult to use and gave scary browser permission messages. One friend said he was afraid Google would shut down his account if they found out that he was "cheating youtube of their ads".

Might sound strange to some but when you teach users that their PC isn't really theirs to control (Windows EULA or Chromebook TOS) you get this kind of chilling effects and it's only getting worse.

That's the thing - we (technical people) help others, and this includes installing or recommending an ad blocker.

This. The first thing I do when setting up a computer for a non-technical family member is install Chrome and uBlock Origin. I personally use Firefox but it hasn't been worth the trouble to try and have them use that. When the only thing on your laptop is Chrome it usually runs without issue.