Everything is oversaturated (i will not promote)

Or at least it seems that way. For example I still remember e commerce and dropshipping in the beginnings people made the most basic websites no targeted marketing or brand building still being profitable like 2015. Nowadays no chance getting sales that easy. Same with apps in the AppStore, back in the day people discovered you just by scrolling in the AppStore. Today you need to do heavy A/B testing data analytics with ads influencer marketing Ugc etc. Every new niche or topic fills up so quickly, because of social media and because everything is so easy to copy. My question is: is it harder to make it today than like 10-20 years ago? Like not from a standpoint of possibility. Of course you can build everything with ai have more information and just need a phone. Thats not the point. The point is from gaining customers without that much effort. Today it seems marketing is much more important than having a good product and the barrier to entry is much lower but the barrier to succeed is much higher. I know people still make it but just wanted to know what you guys think and what you experienced.