As someone who has spent A LOT of time getting certifications, this is a question I ask myself a lot. In the past, I was all about them, in some part because I had the time and resources to do them and less so because I thought they were the key to big career or knowledge gains. These days, I recommend to newer folks in the field to limit caring about certs and focus more on the prize (practical learning and real experience). Anyways, thought this was an interesting read.
Certifications can be a structured way to get knowledge, that is how I see them, and I tend to favor those that require practical exams vs theoretical answer choices, because I feel most of the information I got in school with theoretical exams is gone.
I view the practical certifications with higher regard because of that.