Apps like Spotify, Instagram, and Duolingo are expanding far beyond their original purposes, turning into "super apps" with features like videos, Reels, and even new subjects like math and music. While this helps big companies retain users and monetize their platforms, it risks overwhelming users with feature fatigue and alienating their core audience.

Disappointing article. I wanted something deeper but it's basically just a puff piece that ends with a shrug: sometimes adding features is good! Sometimes it's not!

Also to say Google is an example of this trend and only talk about the SERP is a bit blinkered. Not going to mention Shopping, Scholar, Books, not to mention entirely separate products like Gmail, Maps, etc.?

To me this is just "capitalism gonna capitalism". Why would a company not want to become larger by serving more users and more use cases? Growth is the goal, and "sticking to your core audience" isn't the way to get it.