The very fact that a website is presenting a cookie popup to you is effectively an admission that the website is engaging in unsavory practices. When I see one, I think twice about using the site.
Cookie warnings are like "known to the state of California to cause cancer" warnings. If not displaying a warning creates serious risks, and there is no compensation for legal costs to prove that the warning wasn't necessary, everyone will display the warning everywhere as a precaution.
True, and if that's all the data collection is about, then there's no need for a cookie banner.
> If not displaying a warning creates serious risks
It does not create serious risks. It's pretty clear what sort of data collection is risky, and any site will know if they're squarely in the "safe zone". The risk is if they want to engage in sensitive data collection, or if they want to push as closely as possible to that.