Google maintains some level of control now through its "Google Experience" deals which include: access to the Market, Gmail, Maps, and other apps; early access to new versions; but also a share in the ad revenue, which can't be trivial.

Maybe Google didn't really have the clout to exercise control until now, but I'm really glad it's finally happening.

What I hope this means is that Google will control everything on the OS level, and allow customizations by the manufacturers and carriers only on a skinning and app level. In a perfect world they would also enforce access to bootloaders, to allow easy rom changes.