Actually Google does this all the time. They just simply change the UX and features for products for seemingly no reason. e.g on Android, when I want to save a link to Pocket, I'd use the share button and it'd pop a list of all the apps I could share to. Now that has disappeared and has been replaced with a smaller list of apps(4-5) and the most recently used app to share or the most frequently used (pocket in either case) is not on this list. I have to scroll to the right and click on more apps.
Another example - on Android the pull down settings menu has now changed such that the list of apps is again restricted. I have to pull it twice to see the full list.
I've been holding onto Android for a while now but Google is trying their best to make me to iOS.
While you say "for seemingly no reason", somewhere there is a team happy that an A/B experiment has shown the change to move some metrics (which they care about and perhaps aids the team-member(s') goal(s) of being promoted) in the direction they desire. It's a thing of beauty when the metrics align with the interest of the user but this of course is secondary to the profit motive.
Another example - on Android the pull down settings menu has now changed such that the list of apps is again restricted. I have to pull it twice to see the full list.
I've been holding onto Android for a while now but Google is trying their best to make me to iOS.