I highly doubt this is the strategy. There is somebody in charge of experience design in these organizations who is doing their very best to make the site easy

I highly doubt this is the strategy. There is somebody in charge of experience design in these organizations who is doing their very best to make the site easy to use. However, they are hampered by a confusing product selection (as mentioned in the article), marketing people who want to make sure their preferred items are prominently placed, tight timelines that don't allow for user testing, or legacy tech that restricts design options.