[huggyface]

It is nothing more than a widget and can be removed at will.

EDIT: Whoops misunderstood the question and gave a completely wrong answer. See replies.

[tjoff]

No. You can remove (with a bit of fiddling) it but to my knowledge you can't reclaim the space it takes (even if you could it would present other issues since it is much smaller than a 1-height widget).

How to remove it (not without complications): http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-disable-hide-goog...

[gilrain]

You can indeed reclaim the space with, for example, Nova Launcher. My home screen has 5 rows, as a result, and no spacing issues or anything.

[juliano_q]

Actually it is not, it is persistent and cannot be removed unless you use an alternate home screen replacement (like Nova Launcher). There is also a widget that you can place anywhere.