I agree if we’re talking about YouTubers who are already making millions, but if you’re a smaller channel making high-quality videos, I would imagine that view bump is the difference between being able to work on producing videos full time, and having to work multiple jobs.

At that point then, maybe the thumbnails do make the world a worse place, but I believe that’s offset by having more of the good-quality videos produced (since more time can be spent on them if you don’t have to work 2 jobs).

I’d be interested to hear your perspective on this. Obviously the same utilitarian calculus doesn’t apply if the content a channel is producing is crappy alongside the obnoxious thumbnails.