They are relying on their data scientists and the data scientists are saying:
"We did an A/B test and figured out that we can increase ad revenue by x if we increase amount of ads shown to users by y! We are geniuses!"
"We did an A/B test and figured out that we can increase ad revenue by x if we increase amount of ads shown to users by y! We are geniuses!"
I do hope these large firms with such a wealth of smart people on the inside have robust debate on the nuances of what "success" looks like as you say. If someone pushed a formulaic approach of juicing metrics, you need a healthy ecosystem of pushback.