This is disappointing. Due to Kagi requiring an account and billing I would say transparency should be vitally important for a them since privacy concerns are going to be a large reason a lot of people are looking to switch from Google in the first place. It's always a concern brought up when search alternatives are discussed in forums and the "just trust me BRO" is going to start to ring kind of hollow if they play little games like this.
The cable lobby loves to bring up rural areas but when we gave them millions to build out they just took the money, said fuck it and did jack shit. I'm beginning to think that they prefer to under serve those areas and then use that as a bargaining chip to get everything they want.