Yes, it is really maddening: they make you consent to their "legitimate interest" cookies, conflating legal terms to confuse people into accepting everything.

Ad-tech companies get more and more emboldened lately. They see that the GDPR is not really enforced, they assume that big, cash-rich companies will get taken on first, competitors are doing it too, so they gamble they can get away paying lip service to GDPR while continuing their illegal tracking practices.

I have seen several startups pitching schemes that seem blatantly illegal to me, while assuring that their tech is fully compliant. Often using the words "legitimate interest" to prove this point.