If google is not spyware, why did they harvest the private URL's from minstrel's tool bar when he was privately testing and then index the page? Google seems to be a little bit of a hypocrite with the "do no evil" carp. It's more like do and we say, not as we do! BTW, I bet M$ is paying for that research.
The criticism seems to be directed at "middle man" companies rather than Google itself. But it certainly makes for a catchier article title if they can mention Google somewhere in there!