I’m glad after all these years that my local mall is still the face of dead malls everywhere.

I have not mentioned the thumbnail, only the title.

I would argue that this sort of clickbait is not really intended for person 1. A bit for person 2 but probably most for person 3, the guy looking at YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. The title purposefully omits information to draw the reader in.

Again, I’m making no arguments about this being a bad or immoral thing to do, I’m simply saying that is a classic clickbait tactic. It’s his job to draw in viewers and that’s what he’s doing.

I don’t know who this person is, but the example in the OP is definitely clickbait. “This phone is nearly perfect” but doesn’t say what the phone is, baiting you to click for the answer instead of just mentioning what phone we’re reviewing.

No judgement, it’s his business and he’s gotta make money, but saying he doesn’t do this just seems demonstrably wrong.

Whew, I’m glad I’m not the only one who is just a broken person.