The last sub-heading got me.
Indeed, people's data are becoming relevant, i guess that was why Hive always advice that we use the right tags while making a post, so it can be easily accessed when searched.
The knowledge of internet users around the globe, might be so powerful to outstand search engines results.
Reasons
When we make a simple search on google, we usually find lots of result relating to our research, but i guess those that paid more for their optimization, would have their datas coming first.
But neglecting the search engine, and asking random users physically, would give us a better result.
Aside that, the internet currently is a place, where gathering audience matters alot. I guess, contents that can catch an audience's attention matters alot.
You're right about everything you've said. People's data are becoming more relevant by the day, and the big techs are taking advantage of it to make big money. I think overtime, there are people who have leveraged on the data on Google to become content creators, or provide services and products.
I haven't really considered this, but this is true. I just feel that people mostly rely on Google for everything because it's simply accessible to some extent.
Audience is everything online, having the right engaging audience is a lot.