I do, mostly because it gives a different menu if you click that vs the start menu (it shows recently open programs). If I'm searching I generally just hit the windows key and type, but if I'm slouched and reaching for the mouse only it can be helpful. It's not like it takes up a lot of space, I've got an ultrawide at work and dual 2560x1440 monitors at home.
I kind of get his point about mega corps driving culture, I'm just pointing out that Google did the same thing two decades ago and everyone thought it was super cool (hell, they had a whole pirate themed search 15 years ago), but now it's a problem because it's MS.
I don't know, maybe I just don't care all that much about this because as a Linux user, MS is a lot easier to avoid than Google is.