> when they offer an option to not track my activity
if all i'd watch are tv shows like netflix its one thing, but yt has such broad content i'd rather not be advertised/tracked about stuff i just clicked once and never again...
You can change it from Google account > Data & Privacy > History Settings > youtube History
If you have youtube premium + a general purpose ad blocker + disable watch history its really hard to tell if you are being tracked.
If you do decide to disable watch history, be prepared for just how terrible the median youtube interest is. All recommendations become beyond worthless.