You assume the problem was to determine the user’s preference in the most efficient way possible. The problem, instead, was to fool as many users into consentin

You assume the problem was to determine the user’s preference in the most efficient way possible. The problem, instead, was to fool as many users into consenting as possible; and from that point of view, it is indeed rational to ignore any advisory signals and annoy the user so they want to just make the message go away.