"companies spending money with the adtech companies do see returns" - Not necessarily, as measuring conversion rates is not easy. If you see that without G your visits plummet (as measured by G) you go back to G. Recommended:
I'm not familiar with news specifically, but I assume they don't partner with advertisers directly, but through an ad network, which is in the end owned by Meta or G, who can ~arbitrarily set their prices/payouts?