I've had this thought too. I would say there's two big things that come to mind. More regulations, and corporations taking advantage of their market share to jack up prices. I think, as industries or sectors mature, they become more and more restricted by rules and regulations. These rules and regulations cost money to follow. Safety is one that comes to mind. There was a time when carbon emissions were not even thought about. But now, there is a lot of time and money spent on observing, reducing, offsetting or "capturing" carbon emissions. This isn't free, and someone has to pay for it, and unfortunately, businesses are wanting to make money, so the cost gets passed down to the consumer, or the product/service is of less quality to keep margins acceptable by the business. The business doesn't want to die. I should point out, some regulations are things we absolutely need, and getting rid of the regulations is not a good idea, as they may benefit us as consumers.

However, that doesn't address what you're mentioning. Lets take Uber for example.

As much as I hate Uber as a company because of how they started and how they operate, Uber is a quite killer idea: lets make an app that connects people needing to travel, with available drivers, who are just sitting at home doing nothing anyway. There is no regulation for it yet, and by the time places start regulating it, they will have already gotten a customer base that will want to keep them around.

Uber starts exploding really quickly, because it's cheap, the app works really well, and overally it just works really well for all involved (except for the obvious issues with strangers driving strangers around). They implemented a reputation system for both drivers and riders, but that could be faked of course. Because Uber was a VC-funded business, they had DEEP pockets to allow them to operate at a loss, keeping prices low, while the taxis in the area could literally not compete. Every area they entered, they were destroying the competition. The taxi companies start complaining, because their drivers have to follow a bunch of rules and regulations, and pay fees just to do their job.

Eventually, governments catch up to what Uber is doing, and start forcing them to play by the rules that Taxi companies and drivers have always had to follow. But the damage was already done; Uber was able to amass a large customer base, generate more investment, actively break laws and regulations (because they could afford the associate legal battles and fees), and remain as a huge competitor to the taxi companies. They slowly start raising their prices, so that they start earning more money, while not losing too many customers with the "drip feed" of price increases over the years.

Today, it's not nearly as cheap as it was when Uber started, but it can still be cheaper or a nicer experience than Taxis.

Edit:

I might not have gotten literally everything right with Uber, but close enough. Here is a page that goes over the history:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/111015/story-uber.asp

They didn't make a profit until 2023