Google Authenticator doesn't communicate with google at all - I don't understand where he pulled "but we were nervous about handing another key to identity over to a company whose primary business is search and advertising" out from?
Also, both the client and server software is open-source, so that can be confirmed too.
Also, a mobile phones time is synchronized by the GSM network, it doesn't drift much (if at all).
Hopefully more services start adding multi-factor authentication. So far, I have my Google Account, Dropbox, and now CloudFlare.
Hearing that Authy will soon support Google Authenticator tokens is great news! I have never encountered the "out of sync" problem with Google Authenticator described in the article, but the Authy app does feel more native on my iPhone.
Also, both the client and server software is open-source, so that can be confirmed too.
Also, a mobile phones time is synchronized by the GSM network, it doesn't drift much (if at all).