Let's look at tools and apps that typically do not have ads: public data tools on government websites. Even at the federal level, there is nothing that comes close to the usability of what Google and FB provide. For example, the most advanced delivery system used by the U.S. to inform their customers, the public, of Treasury expenditures is monthly excel spreadsheets.
Try using a local crime mapping tool, like California's Megan's Law offender database.
because there are no systematic metrics to tell how much and in what fashion these data apps are being used, the government has no ability to tell if their apps are actually effective. Furthermore, there's no near-term incentive to improve these tools because no profit margin depends on these apps actually being used.
The author here should be commended for his idealism, but that doesn't warrant the viewpoint that money-making mechanisms serve no beneficial purpose besides a company's bottom line.