Is the Hive database truly decentralized? I mean, someone has to control the servers or have an account where they pay someone else for the services to do this. So, there has to be some kind of bottleneck there somewhere, correct?
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Hive is a blockchain.
Hundreds of nodes check the blocks to make sure the data is correct.
These servers you are thinking about are web2.
When you request data from this chain, it comes from a node.
Some of these nodes are on rented servers, but that is up to the node op and doesn't impact others who may be running on other services or personal servers.
There is no one central place available to shut down the chain.
You may run a node, if you can.
Were you to do so, it would add to the distributed nature of the chain.
To add what @antisocialist posted, the best way to think about it is the totality of things.
When you look at Web2, the database is located on different servers. This is no different from Hive. However, under that premise, one company controls all the servers. Hence, whatever is on Facebook is owned by that company.
Hive nodes are run by different, unrelated people. They are spread throughout the world and are free to run it in any infrastructure they want. While some will use one company, others will opt for something different.
Keep in mind, this only applies to text. That is what is on the blockchain. Images are centralized since that is run through one or two image servers controlled by the providers (like Blocktrades).