Chess.com discouraged unrated matches.

From defaulting to rated matches when you select “play” to taking far longer to match an opponent for an unrated game it’s clear that the site is designed to steer players toward rated games. The result is more rated games, even if that is not the players’ intent. I’m guessing there’s a benefit to the site, but the result is a further distortion of actual ratings since the players may not intend to play a rated game. In some cases (indicated by posts in the “help” section of the forum) the players don’t even know they’re playing a rated game. I imagine that for players with elo anxiety it’s also a deterrent to use the site. Anyone else notice this phenomenon?

Indeed, I have-----your observation is spot-on, friend...I've been playing unrated games for a while now (mainly for practice do as to improve my game skill for tournament play/regular rated play), and I too noticed the lengthy delays between unrated games. The way around being defaulted into a rated game by accident is to remember to always go to the "custom game" click after the "New Game" click, making sure your setting is still on UNRATED. Otherwise, if one simply presses the "Play" click button, it will automatically send you to a rated game.

I know how to select an unrated game, and I do. But if I have 10 minutes to play a quick game I end up squandering 5 minutes waiting for an opponent who may never show up. I click “play” and VOILÁ! Instant rated game! I may end up defaulting to Lichess.