Nobody clicks "Accept all" because they carefully reviewed what they were agreeing to. Most people click it because they want the prompt gone and want to continue with what they came to do.
You open a website to read an article, buy something, watch a video, or solve a problem. Before the page fully loads, here comes a cookie banner asking you to make a privacy decision. Seems like a fair choice, but the design doesn't support that.
The options aren't treated equally. "Accept all" is usually large and visually prominent. The alternative is often hidden behind "manage settings," then multiple steps and toggles that have to be turned off individually.
By the time you see terms like "legitimate interest," "partners," "vendors," etc., most people stop engaging with the content. This isn't because privacy is unimportant, but because the process is made unnecessarily complex to encourage disengagement. This is how clickwrap operates: agreement is reduced to completing the required action.
The "Accept all" button functions as a point of pressure. It relies on impatience, habit, and the need to move forward. Most people aren't trying to evaluate a data-sharing system every time they visit a site.
The language used in these banners is usually "polite" like: "We value your privacy." If that were accurate, the simplest option would limit data collection, no? The option to decline would be as visible and accessible as the option to accept. Instead, the design increases effort for the more private choice.
There is technically a choice, but the structure makes one path significantly easier than the other. When one option requires minimal effort and the other requires sustained attention, most users will choose the easier path.
These designs don't only request consent. Over time, they condition users to treat consent as something to clear quickly. Repeated exposure reduces the likelihood that users will engage meaningfully with the decision.
I don't mean to be the loudest bleating sheep in the flock, but it seems this is where the effect becomes clear that it isn't consent. It's fatigue.
It doesn't need to persuade users that tracking is beneficial. It only needs to make the process of avoiding it time-consuming enough that users stop trying.
Most users aren't making informed decisions. They are responding to friction and just trying to proceed.