The end of optimization

There was a time period in recent internet history — call it the era of Big Data, or the platform era — when the large digital platforms (Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Netflix) focused on optimization. The platforms had an immutable comparative advantage over their potential competitors. They had more data, more user engagement. They leaned on all that data and activity to refine and improve their products.

Google’s search results were better, and delivered faster, than its competitors. Netflix constantly fiddled with its recommendation algorithm, introducing customers to their next favorite show. Amazon could tell, based on your purchase and search history, what products to show you next. None of these services were perfect, but all of them were better-than-the-competition. Data optimization was a race to the top. The big platforms had a self-reinforcing advantage. And they took that challenge seriously.

What I have now come to recognize is that the focus on optimization was a time-limited social fact. Platform executives and their senior managers believed optimization was important, and they built internal reward structures that rendered it true. But this only lasted until they decided to discard it.

From the vantage point of 2025, optimization is clearly no longer a priority for the tech platforms. Google’s search results have gotten worse. Google doesn’t care. Facebook is awash in AI slop. It welcomes the slop. Amazon is filled with fake products and fake reviews. All of these companies still dominate their categories. Degrading the user experience isn’t costing them. The motivating belief that these companies had to optimize, or else they would be out-competed, no longer drives Silicon Valley behavior. Optimization was an era. That era has ended.