Greg -
I think you are quite probably right. I think anchor text relevance is a potential for abuse, but so is about everything else.
However, I do think there is an ulterior motive of sorts (not necessarily in violation of do no evil) that will be spurred by their public status, and while a $3 share wobble (~1% = BFD) won't make daily policy, nor do I think they'll target anything in particular (like
SEO), I do worry that in attempting to "do it all" they may let their search relevance slip a little... it's happened before, it could happen to them, though one would imagine they've got whole teams of bright folks who know what their core competency was and should continue to be...
I love Google overall, but they've stepped on big toes, and will have to watch their flanks to stay on top of their game in natural search, even if other things seem like better
PR. And I don't mean PageRank.
Just my two cents, but everyone should listen to me because...
We're #1 for "best holographic business cards on earth"
(which of course I don't have a bloody thing to do with, but I am lazy and it's staying...)