> I'd love to know if the people that measured and promote these bright, astonished-face, click-bait thumbnails ever bothered to test their effectiveness with d

> I'd love to know if the people that measured and promote these bright, astonished-face, click-bait thumbnails ever bothered to test their effectiveness with different target demographics They have bothered to test the effectiveness, and found that clickbait does work. (You'll sometimes see a video title change over time as creators try to find a title that drives more engagement.) The reality is that whatever gets more views or engagement is more valuable to creators -- target audience really doesn't matter. In this world, most of the money you get is from sponsorships and YouTube ad share, which requires raw views. (Something the "intended audience" doesn't care about!) For a creator trying to make money, the "intended audience" is whoever watches your videos. Does it matter to the creator if the "intended audience" is kept away when the creator ultimately makes more money by boosting views through clickbait?