If the counter-example you quote is Ramaswamy arguing to go not-quite-so-far abusing people's personal information as others at Google wanted, then I think that's pretty damning. It's a very Google-like position to argue that it's okay for Google to mine personal information to drive more ad clicks on Google properties, but not to let other websites do it as effectively. That's the argument to which your quote refers and it's both anti-privacy and anti-competetive.
Seems your account was created within a week of OP, and this is your only comment or post on HN.
I've found some extra supporting quotes and links below, detailing that Ramaswamy oversaw all advertising at Google, was the exec responsible for increasing ads on search results (which was only 3% of the screen originally), and that he knew doing this made search results and privacy worse for consumers.
"Earlier, he [Ramaswamy] spent 15 years at Google where, as a senior vice president, he oversaw all of its advertising and commerce products, including search, display and video advertising, analytics, shopping, payments, and travel. When he joined the company in 2003, Google Ads was a $1.5 billion business. By the time he left in 2018, its annual revenue run rate was $100 billion." https://www.globalindiantimes.com/globalindiantimes/2021/5/1...
"I was the exec in charge of many of the increases in ad load, there was an expectation of a certain amount of growth" - Ramaswamy quoted on CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/16/sridhar-ramaswamy-ex-google-...
"Useful search results were pushed down the page to squeeze in more advertisements, and privacy was sacrificed for online tracking tools to keep tabs on what ads people were seeing" - Ramaswamy discussing his 15 years at Google https://searchengineland.com/former-google-ad-boss-ramaswamy...
