This is not about Google engineers being interested in new tree algorithms, but about Google paying for research to deflect antitrust allegations. Which worked splendidly in the US, I might add, poof went the allegations.
Yeah, like I said in another comment, I'm focused on CS research -- this other stuff, while it might be called research for the sake of the story, isn't the same thing. And the story neatly omits any mention of how much money Google has put into law research vs. CS research (for example).
Imagine if this line were applied to another large heterogeneous organisation like the US Government.
I am less concerned about waterboarding in Guantanamo, which represents a miniscule proportion of the Federal budget, than social security which brings help to tens of millions. And anyway, Guantanamo is in Cuba (not even US soil) and those journalists ought not to have been talking to those prison guards.