Yes! This pisses me off to no end. They keep you congregated in the shopping areas, instead of telling you where the gate is, so you could go relax and get some work or reading done. 

Signal312

Scoresby

econ

$83 Billion Wasted: Showing Up At The Airport 3 Hours Before Your Flight

For them it's great. More time at the airport means more shopping, eating, drinking (you are not allowed to bring in liquids)  and spending. Why would they want to change that?

In many airports, they don't show the boarding gate until 1 hour before the flight (even if they know it sooner). The reason is for people to do more shopping rather than hanging out at the boarding gate.