What UX work goes into making sure you watch sponsored content? Every content creator I know uses chapters to mark where sponsored content is, Youtube has a flag at the beginning of the video to note that this video contains sponsored content. I'd argue they do a lot of UX work to make sure you know this video has a sponsor in it.
Saying we should have an off switch is different than saying there is tons of UX work going into making you watch these videos. Especially since there is no incentive on Youtube's part to do this because they don't get a content of sponsored revenue. You are moving goal post.
I think you’re right, I conflated two issues I was talking about earlier: the attention cost of avoiding this model in general and the attention cost of ignoring sponsored content on YT. Thanks for pointing that out.