I think this is a fairly cynical take, as having news on the web is also pretty great for users. Imagine if instead of having all news stories a quick search a

I think this is a fairly cynical take, as having news on the web is also pretty great for users. Imagine if instead of having all news stories a quick search away you instead had to install apps from X different news sources (and inevitably grant them permission to access your location, contacts list, name of first born child etc.). It'd create lots of little silos of news with very little ability to go outside those silos. Put another way, the web is a great platform for news. It does benefit Google, but it also benefits the billions of people who can freely access a huge range of sources.