I watch a video for whatever topic the video title and description leads me to expect I'm going to hear about. A sponsorship segment, no matter how "clever", is still an ad.

> But sponsor segments... sometimes make me actually want to buy the product

That's exactly what I don't want: more sophisticated psychological manipulation that gets me to buy more stuff.

> I appreciate well-made ads, so I don't mind sponsor segments.

Then don't use the sponsor segment removal portion of the tool. Simple as that.

Those of us who don't want "clever" advertising any more than "annoying" advertising can use it. And that's that.

> sometimes make me actually want to buy the product

Yes this is why we dislike them (other than time wasting)

I don't want to be manipulated into buying crap, I'm good enough doing that myself

The only time I don’t smash the fast-forward button during podcast ads is during the Unmade Podcast. They actually manage to continue the show’s conversation while they promote Hover and Story Blocks. It also means that sometimes their ad slots (as defined by the time between “and now a word from this episode’s sponsor” and “thank you very much for supporting this episode”) can be over seven minutes at times.