Enshitification.info

A directory of things getting worse

Find out which products got worse, and what to use instead.

A searchable catalog of services and products that have measurably declined — with evidence, severity ratings, and non-enshitified alternatives.

Search by category or product name. Try Food, Netflix or Software, or browse the full catalog.

What is enshitification?

Coined by writer Cory Doctorow, enshitification describes the predictable decline of online platforms and consumer products. First they delight their users; then they squeeze those users to favor business customers; then they squeeze the business customers too. By the end, value flows almost entirely to shareholders, and the original product is a hollowed-out version of what it used to be.

The term started with platforms, but the pattern is everywhere: streaming services adding ad tiers, kitchen appliances getting a subscription button, software losing features behind paywalls, physical goods shrinking while the price climbs.

This site is a working catalog of those changes — documented with sources, rated for severity, and paired with alternatives that haven't (yet) gone the same way.

  • Price hikes

    Quiet, recurring subscription increases and sticker-price creep that outpace inflation.

  • Shrinkflation & quality drops

    Smaller portions, cheaper materials, removed features, durability that no longer matches the brand promise.

  • User-hostile patterns

    Forced ads, dark patterns, password limits, account-locking, and engagement traps that punish the customer.

Featured entries

A small sample of what the catalog tracks. Each entry links to a fuller writeup and a list of alternatives.

  • Streaming

    YouTube

    Google

    Shitification Level

    Ad density has climbed sharply over the last decade — pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads even on short clips, plus repeated Premium price hikes. Recently began blocking VPN traffic.

    See alternatives →

  • Software

    Google Search

    Google

    Shitification Level

    First page increasingly dominated by ads and SEO-optimized content farms; useful results often appear below the fold.

    See alternatives →

  • Hardware

    LG Smart TVs

    LG Electronics

    Shitification Level

    Plays advertisements with audio in screensavers. Recent firmware updates have caused TVs to power themselves on randomly to display ads — your TV is now an ad server you paid for.

    See alternatives →

  • Food & Beverage

    Hershey's chocolate

    The Hershey Company

    Shitification Level

    Multiple products quietly reformulated — real chocolate replaced with cheaper vegetable-oil-based coatings. Texture has been widely described as waxy or rubbery.

    See alternatives →