I think the strong reaction is because the distinction between Apple and Google is much fuzzier and weaker than Tim Cook (and some commenters here) are trying to make it sound.

Apple makes money from device sales. Apple can make more money by using private information (to improve their cloud services, selling the search default to Google, for iAds and so on) - as long as they don't do something with it that makes people reconsider their next device purchase.

Google makes money from advertising. Google can make more money using private information with their advertising - as long as they don't do something with it that makes people reconsider using Google services.

There's a difference here but it's a difference of degree, not kind. At bottom, Apple and Google are both companies with incentives for collecting and using private information and risks that encourage them not to misuse it. You can try to squeeze a moral distinction out of the details, but it is spin, not substance.