Tfw they've convinced you that that ability to search for something on the internet is a market function that needs to be owned and sold, not just an action people can take to look for things. Sad days.
It definitely is? That's why all of SEO exists. If you're on the second page, you might as well not exist. Every search term in a personalized marketplace where everyone is bidding for the top spot so they can have traffic that creates revenue. I don't know if this is an intentional ignorant take, or if you're just under the assumption that there was a point where corporate interest wasn't relevant in search engines.
if you’re just under the assumption that there was a point where corporate interest wasn’t relevant in search engines.
There definitely was. The web wasn't created by commercial interests. It started as an academic pursuit, and then was picked up by hobbyists. Commercialization came much later. All of the big search engines (even Google) started as university research projects.