> They wouldn't intentionally make their recommendations worse just for the sake of it.
Why not? Every big platform that I know of has eventually done this with either 1p or “sponsored” content (Google, Amazon, Apple, etc.). In this case their incentive would be to push their own content above 3p content. What matters to them is their revenue, not maximizing the accuracy of their recommendations model.
From a customer's perspective, there's no difference. These are just rationalizations the business tells itself for those who need to reduce their cognitive dissonance.
Why not? Every big platform that I know of has eventually done this with either 1p or “sponsored” content (Google, Amazon, Apple, etc.). In this case their incentive would be to push their own content above 3p content. What matters to them is their revenue, not maximizing the accuracy of their recommendations model.