This doesn't mean the article is not correct, but I just can't believe Google would do this kind of grey-hat SEO... mostly, companies do this to outsmart Google. Why would Google be trying to outsmart its own search engine?
There is potential legal trouble for them if they were to tweak search results to favour their own properties - that's a pretty solid reason for using SEO tactics to outsmart their own search engine.
I'm sure someone else here can go into a more detailed answer.
Side note: the only "meme" I've noticed is the idea that anyone would be presumed a lawyer unless they say "IANAL".
I'm not even talking about links, there was this thing about the Google Flights result appearing for flight queries and some flight search sites (kayak and such) are up in arms about it, so here comes the question of how do they figure that they are entitled to any placement or traffic, and as for relevancy and usefulness surly showing flight details for flight searches is much more useful than nested links.
Also regarding that antitrust meme the Microsoft comparison keep getting mention, I'm not really familiar with that case but as I see it, Windows you buy and you are stuck with, Google on the other hand is free to use or not as you please.
Certainly you might not find anything wrong with it; but if Google were to show ITA flight information in search results, with a link to Google Travel (hypothetical) to purchase the ticket, Expedia, Kayak, and Travelocity might be a little unhappy.
> Windows you buy and you are stuck with, Google on the other hand is free to use or not as you please.
The consumer being "stuck" with Windows was never an issue in the Microsoft case, but rather that they used their dominance in one field (the OS) to gain a significant advantage over a competitor in another field (the browser). If Facebook were to ban the sharing of Google+ links on their network, they might be in similar trouble.
And the bundling deals Chrome had with Skype and has with Adobe seem "Googley" to you?
I really doubt Google would be doing the grey-hat SEO thing myself, but mostly because they have more effective (if more expensive) ways to push Chrome that they've been using already, not because I think Google is incapable of behaving in a completely scummy way. The fact that installing Skype for a while (until Microsoft bought it) defaulted to installing Chrome and making it your default browser pretty much sums up what you can expect out of "Googley" nowadays.