The sad part is how hard they fail at the basics, like playing audio through a web page. Before you can establish yourself as a gatekeeper you need to at least

The sad part is how hard they fail at the basics, like playing audio through a web page. Before you can establish yourself as a gatekeeper you need to at least provide a functional walled garden. There's a famous podcaster they paid millions to sign with them. When I open up the page of episodes, the content isn't up to date. The video never plays at all. Even worse, they constantly suggest I install an application I can only assume is horribly bloated. The advertisements are often in the wrong language. Even if they could get me to stick around and listen to their ads, there's no way to monetize! Recommendations are another area where they fail, but at least that is somewhat subjective.