I agree you can have an active non-cooperation movement. That does not appear to be suggested here.

It's the difference between "i won't participate in patenting software" vs "i'm actively avoiding any companies or software that file patents"

The former i see a lot, and it does not help in any meaningful way, in part because their participation is not required. It doesn't help, it's just something people do to pretend they are helping without having to do anything real.

The latter would be something useful, though it does take large groups.

Not working for google "as a way of helping" is clearly the former. Google doesn't need their help, they will do no good by leaving. They have plenty of other jobs, so it's not hard either. They likely can do more good by staying and agitating than by leaving and being ignored.

Additionally, the argument that they must leave google to have an impact is also clearly silly.