Corey doctorow writes about this in his brilliant book "Enshittification - Why everything suddenly got worse and what to do about ut it.".

It's to take away the power for drivers to choose rides based on earnings.

The tipping is manipulated by the company both towards drivers and customers, to optimize for profit above predictable earnings for drivers and reliable service and fast deliveries for customers.

It's algorithmic manipulation and "twiddling with the knobs" to bring in marginally more profit and less payout per transaction.

Just like Uber does with it's transportation services. Drivers that take any ride that comes up, earn less pr drive, while drivers that are reluctant will get incentivised to drive more (and then gradually earn less).

Companies are using the huge amounts of data they have to manipulate both customers and service providers, it's the devil in all these "middleman" businesses. It's a rotten and hugely shitty way of doing things and its gradually becoming the norm for fucking everything.

I cannot recommend Corey's book enough, not only is it clear and concise in describing these mechanisms in several markets and technologies, it's easy to read and witty with Corey's beautiful bitter sarcastic takes all the way through.

My guess would be that a lower price will equate to more sales, whilst the company itself doesn't lose out on any of their revenue.

my first thought is it is to attempt to deceive people. By hiding the tip button, it gives the incorrect picture that they don't allow tipping, which is standard for companies that don't pay tipping wages. I expect they did it so their customer not only orders more, but also thinks that they are paying their drivers a living wage as they don't need to tip.

It just makes their revenue jump a tiny bit.

Less money spent on tips means larger and more frequent orders.