Someone who has the experience should write up a wiki article on how to use these temporary/virtual phone number services. Or maybe instead there would be a comparison between existing services that compares how they work so we know which service would best suits our needs. I’m hesitant to try any of these because I don’t know which one suits my needs best for the best price available.
If you have or can source an old android device, you can, in this order, factory reset it, connect to free coffeeshop wifi, create Google account for the device (it should not ask for a number), write down your email/PW. However, you will need to sign into gmail or other Google service with those credentials from time to time to prevent the account from automatically deactivating due to lack of use.
Also note: if you use your phone with play services running on your bare IP where other devices (yours or family/housemates) are signed into Google they will easily correlate your activity with your google-identity.
Use textverified.com and it does work, I have created an account using their temp phone number and you can reactivate that number if it is needed for verification again.
I recommend using an email alias to create an account wuthout gmail if possible
I don’t think the IP address matters because creating an account while connected to a residential VPN doesn’t stop requiring phone verification.
Using an alias to create a Google account? What do you mean? Is that still even possible? And what difference does it make from a privacy standpoint?
I used an email alias as my recovery address for the anonymous Google account I created. And yet, Google still didn’t try to verify my identity through it.
I’ve tried SMSPool and got banned after creating an Amazon account. I tried Ticketmaster, which has my real phone number, and it wouldn’t accept. I have not tried their rental option, so I’ll be looking into that (and maybe jmp.chat too since I live in the UK).
Basically you don’t need to create a @gmail.com and use an alias like proton mail, Tuta or any alias service
Yes, I have always known that. I didn’t know that it was still a thing people did after YouTube became popular. It’s kinda similar to creating a Proton account without a Proton Mail address.
The question remains, what is the purpose of creating a Goolge account without a Gmail address? Is it easier? Can I use YouTube? Will it help me avoid losing my account and get constant prompts to verify identity with a phone number?
Yes you can use YouTube
Google will very soon after still mandate @gmail.com you need to make. I said that earlier in this thread.
We already have a solution for what OP was asking with alternatives others have mentioned.
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Is it easier to create a Google account without a Gmail address?
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What would be the purpose of going this route? Is it better for privacy?
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Will the risk of losing my account because I don’t have a phone number be dramatically reduced?
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I know you didn’t ask me but I have much experience with dealing with Google creating and using it as “privately” as possible for the select use cases I had.
It’s possible for sure. Easier depends if Google has already flagged your VPN IP to mandate it other ways or more stricter ways to create your account. No conclusive answer here.
First, it depends on how you’re defining your privacy in this particular context. If you do it right, there can be no PII associated with this account.
No.
If you use textverified for phone number, they offer specialised verification for each service so that it can work, you can check the history of number being used for creating the Google account and reactivate the number if Google decided to ask verification.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. 
At creation, I don’t intend to reveal any personal information about me. That means not real IP, no real names, no personal phone number, and I intend to use Mullvad Browser.
Once the account is created, I intend to use it for YouTube and YouTube Music, so to some degree my interests will be revealed to Google, but it shouldn’t be tied to my name or location.
Ah, there’s the rub. Ultimately, if I intend to use an SMS verification service, it is probably best to pay to have access to that number for at least 3 months while I use the account.
I had never heard of them, but I’m adding them to the list of SMS services I can use. Thanks! I see that they accept Monero so that’s excellent news. SMSPool recently jointed the Proxy store, and I hope Text Verified also does the same eventually .
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Or just keep a jmp.chat number active. It will also be useful for any other service that absolutely needs a real enough number for verification.
That’s good advice, but the purpose of if using services like SMS Pool and JMP Chat is to protect my privacy. I intend to use them like aliases, in that I would never use the same number for different services. Moreover, I don’t wish to keep paying for the same number in the long term. My hope is that after three months, I won’t get asked to verify my online account with a phone number that I never linked to it.
My current Google account, the one that is linked to my identity and that I’ve had for over 10 years, has never asked me to verify my account via phone number. I always use 2FA via app.