This is the equivalent of a protest, people are objecting to Google's illegal data harvesting practices in places that receive engagement, since that's the most effective way to get the word out and warn others.

Google's reasoning that this is not personal data is meaningless in the face of GDPR, which considers an IP address personal data. Google has access to the IP address when they receive the data, therefore they are transmitting personal information without user consent and control, which is illegal.