Way way lower if you actually look at ISPs and media outlets like Vice. Did you see the amount of tracker shit that side loads up? They spray your private data not only to Google, but tens of other companies as well.

My annoyance gets bigger and bigger and I see myself more and more often saying, never mind! And being left with a bad feeling. Soon I will just stop clicking yt links and find alternatives.

I'm sure that (anti-)feature improved the relevant metrics, and someone got a great evaluation or promotion for it.