The teams running products see it as an existential threat. Google shutting down the product is closer to an investor or board member forcing a startup to shut down because it's not long term sustainable. None of the things you mentioned could be run as independent businesses successfully, at least not at the levels of funding Google was giving them prior to them being shut down.
There's no clawback for sandbagging the future, no reward for present impact of past work. The people who flock to these projects are there to score a quick promo/raise and move on to the next new thing.
