What you're alluding to is the design studies, A/B testing that they do for say should this button be placed at the top-right or left-bottom? Google probably do

What you're alluding to is the design studies, A/B testing that they do for say should this button be placed at the top-right or left-bottom? Google probably does immense testing on their UI to make sure it is optimized. What I am referring to is complete re-thinking of UI when it comes to presentation of content. I don't think it would even be on the table for testing and spending time at Google. I don't doubt that Google has to do everything that maximizes profit, but I seriously doubt if anyone has tried to make a static page for an experiment. The kind of design language today is an amalgamation..or rather a hodgepodge of current design trends, anti-functionalist fashion-like waves that UI aesthetic makes rounds in Designer circles and the copy-cat nature of "If Apple is doing it we should to" or "Stripe's success can be attributed to their sleek animations and design sensibilities", yet there is no validation. I am willing to bet. I seriously doubt if they can even produce a static, simplified page that shows photos in high resolution and have tested that on real users.