Discover interview questions

Typical initial phone screen with a recruiting/sourcing associate. Regular straightforward sort of questions, some culture fit some functional/role specific. It took a couple of weeks from the initial contact to hear back. Once I did, I had a brief call with the hiring manager. Seemed like a good culture, smart and energetic people. After another week (maybe 2) I was scheduled to come in for a series of face to face interviews with business leaders as well as the hiring manager. Due to personal reasons the hiring manager was out on the scheduled day (unavoidable) so had the interviews with the business leaders and waited for next steps. After a couple of days I was able to reschedule an interview with the hiring manager on the phone. I really should have insisted on a face to face, but was told I would be given the opportunity to meet when I was brought in for the next round. I felt pretty secure at that point, and was excited for the next steps. Initially I was told I would hear back within two business days, but that came and went. I called a week later and left a voicemail, emailed a few days later. No contact at all for two weeks. I realized at that point I wasn't going to get the job but am left wondering what happened. Finally received an email from the recruiter telling me they are going to fill with an internal candidate. Maybe it is just me, but don't post a role until the internal pool is exhausted. Having never had the opportunity to meet the hiring manager I feel the process was not entirely fair, certainly not in my favor. Absolutely no hard feelings, just feel like some things could have been more candidate focused.