The implication is that this article was paid for by OmniSciDB or someone with an interest. This changes the presumed context and should be noted upfront by the author if that is the case.
His articles are extremely well documented, so there's nothing stopping anyone from performing the same benchmarks.
People can elect to work on things voluntarily for personal reasons, but if someone asks them to fix or do something for them, then instead of saying no, they might say "how much will you pay me?" It's their time and they're under no obligation to offer it to you for free (though they can voluntarily choose to if they want).