diff --git a/client/src/components/netflix-grid.tsx b/client/src/components/netflix-grid.tsx
index b0cff60..2570099 100644
--- a/client/src/components/netflix-grid.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/netflix-grid.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useState, useRef, useEffect } from "react";
+import { useState, useRef, useEffect, useMemo } from "react";
 import { useLocation } from "wouter";
 import { type Video } from "@shared/schema";
 import VideoCard from "./video-card";
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ export default function NetflixGrid({ videos, isLoading }: NetflixGridProps) {
     setSelectedVideo(video);
   };
 
-  // Organize videos into categories
-  const getCategories = (): VideoCategory[] => {
+  // Memoize categories to avoid recalculation on every render
+  const categories = useMemo((): VideoCategory[] => {
     if (!videos.length) return [];
 
     // Sort by views for top content
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export default function NetflixGrid({ videos, isLoading }: NetflixGridProps) {
         videos: videos.slice(0, 12)
       }
     ];
-  };
+  }, [videos]);
 
   if (isLoading && videos.length === 0) {
     return (
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ export default function NetflixGrid({ videos, isLoading }: NetflixGridProps) {
     );
   }
 
-  const categories = getCategories();
+  // Categories are now memoized above
 
   return (
     <>
diff --git a/client/src/components/video-card.tsx b/client/src/components/video-card.tsx
index bfc4dc0..82b85dc 100644
--- a/client/src/components/video-card.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/video-card.tsx
@@ -52,16 +52,16 @@ export default function VideoCard({ video, onClick, className = "", hideOverlay
   const [currentTime, setCurrentTime] = useState(0);
   const [duration, setDuration] = useState(0);
   
-  // Delay preview start to avoid loading on quick mouse passes
+  // Disable video preview for better performance - just keep hover effects
   useEffect(() => {
     if (isHovered) {
-      // Only enable preview on desktop, disable on mobile
-      if (window.innerWidth >= 768) {
-        const delay = 800;
-        hoverTimeoutRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
-          setShowPreview(true);
-        }, delay);
-      }
+      // Disable preview completely for performance
+      // if (window.innerWidth >= 768) {
+      //   const delay = 800;
+      //   hoverTimeoutRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
+      //     setShowPreview(true);
+      //   }, delay);
+      // }
     } else {
       if (hoverTimeoutRef.current) {
         clearTimeout(hoverTimeoutRef.current);
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ export default function VideoCard({ video, onClick, className = "", hideOverlay
         <img
           src={video.thumbnailUrl}
           alt={video.title}
-          className={`w-full h-full object-cover transition-all duration-300 ${showPreview ? 'opacity-0' : 'opacity-100 group-hover:scale-105'}`}
+          className="w-full h-full object-cover"
           style={{ 
             objectPosition: video.faceCenterPosition || 'center center',
             objectFit: 'cover'
@@ -176,9 +176,9 @@ export default function VideoCard({ video, onClick, className = "", hideOverlay
               playsInline
               controls={false}
               disablePictureInPicture
-              onLoadStart={() => console.log('Preview loading for:', video.title)}
-              onError={(e) => console.log('Preview failed for:', video.title)}
-              onCanPlay={() => console.log('Preview ready for:', video.title)}
+              onLoadStart={() => {}}
+              onError={() => {}}
+              onCanPlay={() => {}}
               onTimeUpdate={(e) => setCurrentTime(e.currentTarget.currentTime)}
               onLoadedMetadata={(e) => setDuration(e.currentTarget.duration)}
               onMouseMove={(e) => {
diff --git a/client/src/pages/home.tsx b/client/src/pages/home.tsx
index 9e296ef..257609a 100644
--- a/client/src/pages/home.tsx
+++ b/client/src/pages/home.tsx
@@ -53,11 +53,15 @@ export default function Home() {
     }
   }, [videosResponse]);
 
-  // Only refetch when search changes
+  // Debounce search to reduce API calls (500ms delay)
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (searchQuery !== undefined) {
-      refetch();
-    }
+    const debounceTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+      if (searchQuery !== undefined) {
+        refetch();
+      }
+    }, 500);
+
+    return () => clearTimeout(debounceTimer);
   }, [searchQuery, refetch]);
 
   return (
diff --git a/server/index.ts b/server/index.ts
index 9d7f7c7..172370b 100644
--- a/server/index.ts
+++ b/server/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import express, { type Request, Response, NextFunction } from "express";
+import compression from "compression";
 import { registerRoutes } from "./routes";
 import { videoSyncService } from "./videoSync";
 import { setupVite, serveStatic, log } from "./vite";
@@ -7,18 +8,36 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import path from "path";
 
 const app = express();
+
+// Enable gzip compression for faster responses
+app.use(compression());
+
 app.use(express.json());
 app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
 
-// Prevent caching issues middleware
+// Performance and caching middleware
 app.use((req, res, next) => {
-  // Set no-cache headers for HTML pages to prevent blank screen issues
+  // Set no-cache headers only for HTML pages to prevent blank screen issues
   if (req.path === '/' || req.path.endsWith('.html') || !req.path.includes('.')) {
     res.set({
       'Cache-Control': 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate',
       'Pragma': 'no-cache',
       'Expires': '0'
     });
+  } 
+  // Cache static assets for better performance
+  else if (req.path.includes('/assets/') || req.path.match(/\.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg)$/)) {
+    res.set({
+      'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=31536000', // 1 year
+      'ETag': `"${Date.now()}"` // Simple ETag
+    });
+  }
+  // Cache API responses for 30 seconds
+  else if (req.path.startsWith('/api/videos') && req.method === 'GET') {
+    res.set({
+      'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=30',
+      'ETag': `"videos-${Date.now()}"`
+    });
   }
   next();
 });
diff --git a/server/videoSync.ts b/server/videoSync.ts
index d7e6742..2a00af4 100644
--- a/server/videoSync.ts
+++ b/server/videoSync.ts
@@ -211,13 +211,13 @@ class VideoSyncService {
   }
 
   private startPeriodicSync() {
-    // Sync every 60 seconds
+    // Sync every 5 minutes for better performance
     this.syncInterval = setInterval(() => {
       console.log('⏰ Starting scheduled video sync...');
       this.syncVideos();
-    }, 60 * 1000);
+    }, 5 * 60 * 1000);
     
-    console.log('📅 Scheduled video sync every 60 seconds');
+    console.log('📅 Scheduled video sync every 5 minutes for optimal performance');
   }
 
   getVideos(limit: number = 20, offset: number = 0, search?: string) {