A trick to avoid this is if searching for a game takes more then 15-20 seconds, just cancel and reclick Galactic Assoult or whatever gamemode you were trying to find a match for.
I've been able to easily avoid empty lobbies this way. You can also try to change your ping-location. If you search for a game in a ping location where most people are either at work on sleeping then ofc there's going to be less open games to join.
