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TL;DR: think of the related content block as ad space.
The system tests the productivity of both thumbnail and target content itself, gathers data (ex: system finds that Thumbnail 3 for Blonde Video 1 is the most popular thumbnail for that video, but 99% of the clickers immediately close the whole site).
The system programs the robots to act accordingly (disregard high CTR on misleading thumbnail and penalize it instead, or on the other hand boost the placement of thumbs for a video that has very high average view time but low view count), and the system refines itself over time toward the metrics that are good for both SEO and users.
(I know this system isn't anything revolutionary, but if it's really not being done at all in the related content blocks on adult sites then there must be a reason.)
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