@Archnemysis the need for upfront permissions is entirely due to behavioral tracking, which is part of the ad model that Google popularized. Ultimately this led to the cesspit that is Facebook &c but they pretty much paved the road. Without this original sin there would have been less need to formalize data processing consent as the GDPR was drafted in reaction to this binary choice between letting companies abuse users' data and breaking the modern web.

It's less of a specific criticism of Google and more of a criticism of the abusive culture it is part of and it helped foster.