Regardless of what actions Google decided to take, this was going to make the news. They could either do this in a positive way by showing that they themselves

Regardless of what actions Google decided to take, this was going to make the news. They could either do this in a positive way by showing that they themselves are not above the law of PageRank, or they can do nothing at all and have Google Naysayers saying, "See! Their own rules don't apply to them." This sends a strong message to the rest of the Internet: We won't stand for even the perception of impropriety when it comes to our money maker: search (well ads, but you know what I mean)