Is it not their prerogative to ensure a good quality of network service and user experience? These apps harm everyone who uses the service unnecessarily.

Is Google also being hypocritical by encouraging users to use networks for Search et al, at the same time encouraging developers to optimize for network usage and battery life? [1]

[1] http://developer.android.com/training/efficient-downloads/in...

Huh? Your wording suggests that these two things are somehow contrary to each other, but in fact they're both perfectly aligned with the goal of reducing network utilization.

Hate on them if you want, but this isn't the least bit inconsistent.