I think that statement is too general. From where I was sitting, it looked like people didn't think about privacy at all, and the only thing they were saying was "Holy shit, this is free!" Are you sure the people you tend to talk to are representative of the general population?
Your statement is did people care? That answer is if they did they wouldn't use Google services or FaceBook or most of the Internet.
http://www.infodocket.com/2014/04/30/privacy-google-no-longe...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11012392
They hid and lied about the facts about ad tracking of Education and Apps emails etc. until they were forced to testify about it in federal court and no one was clued into it. Once they got caught tracking and making money on it for many many years they rolled back some stuff. How is that clear communication?
Or how is that "Google has been very upfront on exactly how their business model works with users since day one." ?