Starwood values Platinums more than Golds. Are you surprised?
That's why the T&C of the SPG program offer greater benefits to Platinums than to Golds.
Hotels may sometimes upgrade Golds beyond what they are required to do by the terms of the program. But they are only obligated to provide a preferred room. If a Gold books a preferred room to begin with, the Gold is not entitled to a complimentary upgrade.
We'd all like to be given more, but the rules are pretty clear -- at least clear to those of us frequenting these boards.
The one criticism might be that Starwood does overmarket a bit. But I think that
even the website has been updated on this point.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">As an elite member, you don't need to redeem Starpoints for a room upgrade --- you'll automatically be given a Preferred Room at check-in when available.</font>
(I recall the quote being somewhat more ambitious in the past?)