They’ve been secretly doing this for years. I switched out after I realized the weird roads they were having me take weren’t to avoid traffic, but because every corner I turned at had a 7-11 on it. The roads in my area are set up like a grid, so there’s many ways to get everywhere. I’m thinking like 3-4 years ago I noticed the change. I would check with my friend’s phones, and notice Google would give them different directions than mine. Last weekend, a friend was giving me directions to a spot in a neighboring town, and it avoided the freeway to have me drive through the business district of both my town and the destination. I work in the town I was heading to, I know how long it takes to get there. It told us to go literally the worst way possible.