For example, eliminating lies doesn't "make the world a better place" unless it actually makes people happier; claiming so is just concealed deontologism.

I disagree. Not lying or not being lied to might well be a terminal value, why not? You that lies or doesn't lie is part of the world. A person may dislike being lied to, value the world where such lying occurs less, irrespective of whether they know of said lying. (Correspondingly, the world becomes a better place even if you eliminate some lying without anyone knowing about that, so nobody becomes happier in the sense of actually experiencing different emotions, assuming nothing else that matters changes as well.)

Of course, if you can only eliminate a specific case of lying by on the net making the outcome even worse for other reasons, it shouldn't be done (and some of your examples may qualify for that).