[st00]

It seems as though you've conflated the management of perception with the practice of ethical research.

Google is very rich and that enables them to control resources and build things that make them richer. They're in positive feedback loop, and their job is to protect their advantage. Yep, sometimes capitalism gets out of hand.

It's the government's job (on behalf of their citizens) to apply the brakes, and Google has become pretty skilled at managing perceptions to avoid the brakes and maintain their advantage. This document is one part of their strategy.

So, apologizing for Google on the grounds of "they'd get bad press if they shared their toys" rings a bit hollow. They've dressed up self interest as social responsibility, and exploited this weird, radical left wing moment of ours to their advantage.