The great thing about patents is that they require the applicants to disclose the details of how their inventions work. When it's Google that's submitting patent applications, you can bet that the information disclosed effects everyone on the Internet.
Here's info on the latest round of Google patent applications submitted last July. Details of how Google uses ad layouts, determines real sites from spam sites, assigning scores base on the location of information on a page, and the logic behind Adsense. If you like Patent-speak, it's good reading.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060711-205551
