Tech companies sell tech. Advertising companies sell attention. Most big tech companies are just high tech advertising companies. They don't like to say this because it doesn't carry nearly as much prestige to admit that the culmination of their life's work is to get people to buy more crap rather than making the world better in any measurable way. I say this as someone who works for an advertising company
I take issue with pretty much every single one of your statements here.
> culmination of their life's work is to get people to buy more crap rather than making the world better in any measurable way
Advertising makes the world better in a lot of ways. It allows companies to provide services without actively charging for them which is a much preferred way of monetization of the vast majority of users (just look at the popularity of Netflix's recent ad supported plan). It allows companies and users to connect on new products which often results in a purchase that both the consumer and company benefit from. The result are higher living standards.
Google Search is funded primarily through ads. If you truly believe that Google Search hasn't made the world better in any measurable way I truly don't know what to tell you.
Then you'll probably disagree with me when I say that I think the world wide web in general has had a net zero impact on the world. I believe it's had as many positives as negatives. Perhaps if we could've frozen it circa 2005 it would be an overall positive but I'm not convinced it's as good as we all believe it is