Yes, I'm aware of that, but that's search on iOS, nothing to do with Google Maps, which I'd say is a much much much smaller problem on iOS compared to Android,

Yes, I'm aware of that, but that's search on iOS, nothing to do with Google Maps, which I'd say is a much much much smaller problem on iOS compared to Android, and getting more and more irrelevant as Apple Maps gets better. There's is a very large number of Android phones though, many of which at least historically have been advertised to include these Google services. Hence the "in a way" – whether or not there is money flowing into Google Maps directly or indirectly from that purchase, buyers of such phones pay for a device with that service. If that service isn't there, I can return it in most jurisdictions. I'm sure a large part of such users would have the expectation of not being producticized by that service on a phone they paid for, and I doubt anyone cares how exactly Google shuffles money around to make that happen.