I think there was a paradigm that prevailed for about 10 years, let's say 2008-2018 - and this by no means applies only to Google - under which the mass violation of user privacy and personal data collection was not just passed off as, but actual believed to be, something that would benefit the product and the user (even if there was also money to be made on the side by selling that data on). It wasn't yet fully weaponized to the point where every service got shittier unless and even if they extracted more money every year. Somewhere along the line, the game went from cataloging the internet to providing email for everyone to blackmailing anyone who didn't want to partake of their offerings or follow their rules.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. There's never been a case of a player with Google's degree of market leverage that hasn't become corrupted (or any government in a similar position, for that matter). It's not about handing out money. It's about having democratic checks in place to behead and dismember entities that do what Google has done. The vestiges of the US Govt and EU parliament are probably the last thing standing between info sector monstrosities and the end of free thought and speech in the world.