It’s all controlled with Google through a big cookiefest, which looks over your shoulder, but only from behind. If you have your browser forget cookies after every session, even Google can only learn so much. If you subscribe to Gmail, then they can learn a lot — but no more than any other ISP that hosts email. Google is cuter about it though and some of their ads based on my stored emails are amusing.
AOL certainly earned its nickname of AO-hell through its intensely nannified interface.
IXquick = problem solved.