Your argument is simply that analysts are trapped in a local maxima, optimizing for clicks as a proxy for consumer lifetime value. However, we have no knowledge of the actual analysis techniques. In fact, the company may be optimizing lifetime value with lightboxes.
My argument is that they are not optimizing for lifetime value, and in fact are wrong. It's difficult to measure, thus they go for the route that is easier to measure. Classic McNamara/quantitative fallacy, and I think it applies cleanly here.
