On the other hand, in their favor, if I was paying for Google then I'd still be using it. And in the absence of new government-mandated information portability laws, they would still be able to have a file on me -- and therefore offer superior services than their information-less competitors.

But I do think you're right about the "branding" issues. They don't want to broach that can of worms because it reminds people that things aren't free and Google is making money to pay engineers and shareholders somehow.