I apply every day. 80% will send generic "unfortunately" @no-reply email. other 20% won't reply. that 20% tends to be companies that have been advertising the same role for > 6months or even some > 1year.
The only interviews I had in last few years was from recruiters cold contacting me. I have not had an interview from an application in probably 4 or 5 years or more.
I'm worried, is it possibly ageism (i'm near 40). I keep hearing that companies are struggling to find good people, but i'm struggling to even get acknowledged. Not saying i'm good, but it doesn't correlate.
I've got a story that illustrates this well. I'm older than you and a few years ago I submitted an online application for a job (at a large company) that was a great fit. I didn't hear anything for a month so I found a recruiter on LinkedIn. They referred me to the recruiter responsible for that position. They said they had never seen my resume in their system but she'd forward it to the hiring manager (my future manager). I got the job and became the hiring manager for other positions. Very few good resumes were sent to me from our HR system so I started checking. Turns out the HR IT system was filtering out good candidates and the HR person was filtering out a bunch of good candidates that made it past the HR applicant tracking system. There are so many applications for every position that good people just get caught in the programmatic and human filters to screen out people who aren't a fit for the job.
Use LinkedIn to find the recruiter or find your connections who work that that company. Get your resume into the hiring manager's hands.
As others have said, "near 40" should not be putting you anywhere near age-discrimination issues, particularly at the CV-filtering stage.
Questions that occur to me: Are you applying to companies that are actively seeking? Are you applying to specific roles? If you are applying to specific roles is it obvious that your experience is applicable to those roles? Is your CV too long (over 4 sides, or less but a very small font) ? Is your CV too short (under a side) ?
Feel free to email me if you'd like me to give it a (confidential) once-over and provide any hot-takes on what the issue might be (am an ex-UK contractor with a few remote stints under my belt).
Edit: You could also ask a recruiter for feedback on your CV. They're experts (hopefully)) on selling candidates so it's worth asking.
I've worked at two FAANG companies, and I can't think of a single software engineer I've met who would describe their job as 'build websites' because:
1. They would usually use words like 'system', 'application' or 'service' instead of 'website'.
2. Almost no IC at a FAANG builds a significant site alone. They're often responsible for certain parts or features.
3. Few folks work on websites (plural). e.g. the folks at FB working on the advertiser dashboard/UI probably never work on FB marketplace etc.
Perhaps you have scope to improve the way you describe your work, and this might help you get more responses and opportunities.
First, you need to contact your connections in the companies you want to work for. And they will introduce you. With 17 years of experience, you know hundreds of people working in the industry.
If you don't know anybody in the company, then you need to find a recruiter that works there and contact them directly. Find them on LinkedIn and send them a message.
You can do the same with a hiring manager for that particular role. But that's harder to figure out who it is.
You just need to speak with people in the company directly. Sending your resume to some automated black hole system will not work.
Jobs advertised as remote are often not globally remote - as in, there's an expectation that the person they hire will be in the same country. If you're applying for US jobs from a developing country you'll probably get a different response than a developer based in the US (or no response at all).
If that's not the case, and you're a US based dev applying for remote jobs in the US, then there's probably some red flags on your resumé - impossible to know without seeing it.
17 years experience / late 30s doesn't put you in the ageism bracket.
I'd try a couple of small tweaks
Like include your requirements on salary, if you are open to contract, etc.
Will be interested to know what happens after you change some things up.