The optimization process and recommendations:

1. Avoid Ordering by Random Function (query line: 19): Ordering by RAND will cause performance degradation as the data grows. An alternative to fetch one random result is to pick a random number in the application and use the following \u003ca target\u003d"_blank" href\u003d"http://www.eversql.com/faster-pagination-in-mysql-why-order-by-with-limit-and-offset-is-slow/"\u003eseek method\u003c/a\u003e
2. Avoid Selecting Unnecessary Columns (query line: 11): Avoid selecting all columns with the '*' wildcard, unless you intend to use them all. Selecting redundant columns may result in unnecessary performance degradation.
3. Create Optimal Indexes (modified query below): The recommended indexes are an integral part of this optimization effort and should be created before testing the execution duration of the optimized query.
4. Reduce Impact Of Subqueries In Select Clause (modified query below): Subqueries in the SELECT clause will be executed once per each select row. Therefore, reducing the amount of selected rows in the FROM clause before getting to the SELECT clause will result in a performance improvement.
5. Replace Left Join With Subquery (modified query below): The pattern of inflating the amount of data (using joins) and deflating (using GROUP BY) usually slows down queries. In this case, it can be avoided by moving some of the logic to the SELECT clause, and therefore removing some of the LEFT JOINs. In some cases, this transformation can lead to an obsolete GROUP BY clause, which can also be removed.

Optimal indexes for this query:

ALTER TABLE `prods` ADD INDEX `prods_idx_active_ownerid` (`active`,`ownerid`);
ALTER TABLE `usage` ADD INDEX `usage_idx_prodid` (`prodid`);

The optimized query:

SELECT
        optimizedSub1.*,
        (SELECT
            count(u.prodid) AS count 
        FROM
            usage u 
        WHERE
            optimizedSub1.p_prodid = u.prodid LIMIT 1) AS count 
    FROM
        (SELECT
            p.*,
            p.prodid AS p_prodid 
        FROM
            prods p 
        WHERE
            p.ownerid > 0 
            AND p.active = 1 
        ORDER BY
            rand() LIMIT 1) AS optimizedSub1