It's not just tech companies. The BBC has commissioned a typeface[1] for their massively varied output, to cut down on licensing costs.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/gel/articles/introducing-bbc-reith
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/gel/articles/introducing-bbc-reith
I love designer talk.
I think designers are on to something when they say to use a custom font to promote the brand. It's something that's both low-key and high-impact.
It's also an opportunity to brand something as uniquely theirs, unlike a Google web font that anybody can use.
We do have magazines and merchandise for some franchises, but as far as I know, those were secondary when it came to BBC Reith/Reith Sans. TV & Online are big, and especially when it comes to legibility across resolutions and encoding systems (PAL/NTSC/SD/Pixel Ratios/HD/4K/Mobile/High-DPI..)
I know that the current licensing is as open as it can be, but if Google or the actual legal owner changes its mind, will the current users need to go through a clearing of everything they have that uses the font ?
I would guess there’s no guarantee, and wouldn’t take that risk if I was in the BBC.