Notice the difference here between Google and Amazon.

Not to defend Amazon, but this isn't a real apples-to-apples comparison. Google is putting $1 billion into expanding a current campus for ~5,000 additional jobs. Amazon was shopping a $5 billion dollar investment with up to 50,000 jobs with an average salary of $150k.

Unlike Amazon, Google says it isn’t asking for incentives from the city

As mentioned above, Google is expanding an already established campus, which may be already enjoying incentives and have scaling incentives for additional investment.

Notwithstanding these counterpoints, I do agree with you that Amazon turned their expansion bid process into a circus. A lot like Lebron's "the Decision."