True, I think it was in various discussions here on HN including maybe under Tim Bray's article too. Same kind of rumors were circulating regarding AMP. There is still no direct evidence that Google's web plugins matter, but at least it seems like spammy websites that are fully equipped with Google's stuff get favorable ranking. And vice versa, you won't see high ranking spammy results that are not crammed with GA, Google Fonts and what not.