But then the question is what possible reason would they have to provide the app/service for free, without ever hoping to monetize it?
Unless we're willing to pay directly for these things (hint: we're not), these companies (that are, you know, largely in existence to make a buck/Euro/Yen/etc..), the only way they can accomplish that is to sell the one thing we're willingly giving them in return, data about ourselves and, in some cases, the small hope that we buy something from them that they can profit from.
I'm not some dewey-eyed ingenue that thinks we're living in a world where everything should be free, and I think it's unrealistic to expect that.