What discourages me, however, are the rates. This may not be true to all crypto-to-fiat currency trade rates, but as far as my local fiat is concerned, the rates aren't that competitive.
That's always the case when using DEX or mostly non-KYC p2p platform. Idk why but most of the people in this space preferred those CEX, maybe because of UX, lower fees or non for p2p, higher rates, more coin options to trade, and more.
All this might be true, but I guess the bottom line is that they're using what's already popular, marketed, and talked about. Many don't research which platform is best to use. They just go straight to what's currently the most popular. And they would even mindlessly recommend it. They've got no basis at all other than their actual experience of using which was successful. They don't even offer alternative options.
Having said this, ads matter. You don't get to encounter the likes of bisq while scrolling on social media.