Well I shouldn't have called that sign a merge sign either, just means the entrance lane will end. Many states put yield signs at every freeway entrance though. If you're coming to a stop on a freeway on ramp during regular traffic you're screwing up, unless it's heavy stop and go traffic of course.

Personally I hate seeing yield signs on freeway entrances like this because some dumb drivers stop right at the entrance instead of using the long lame to get up to speed. You need to at least use the lane available to attempt to enter the driving lane not just stop right away, that's dangerous. This site does a decent job explaining it but it doesn't account for states like in this video where you get a long "merge lane" but also a yield sign:

https://www.motorists.org/mergeyieldstop-rules/

MERGE is used where a lane is available to allow cars to blend in, typically when entering an interstate highway. It is very dangerous to stop in the merge lane; accelerate instead, to match your speed to the traffic you’re blending in with. Just like when you were learning how to bike, you have to KEEP PEDALING! YIELD also commands you to blend in, except there is no merge lane available. If a conflict would occur, you must allow the other vehicle to go ahead of you since you don’t have adequate room to accelerate. (You may actually have to put your phone call on hold for a second to do that.) But if there is no conflicting traffic, keep going: Yield does not mean “a rolling stop.”