Often, the simpler route actually is faster because Google fails to compute a realistic time penalty for all of its additional turns, or account for the fact that you can't blast down a residential street at 60kph even if that's the legal limit there.

Over-optimization of routes on Google Maps is borderline comical some times, when Google wants you to make 2 extra turns to get somewhere on the same street that you're already on because the parallel road on the next block has a speed limit that's 5% higher so it thinks it's faster.

Bad routes from Google (or Uber's built-in navigation) are a big part of why Uber/Lyft use has become so frustrating for me, especially when Google gives illegal or dangerous directions (make a U-turn right now even though there's a median in the way!).