I don't believe Daniel Hillis or Bran Ferren work at Google; they are the principles of Applied Minds, a consulting/R&D firm. Applied Minds spun out Metaweb which Google bought in 2010, I wonder if this patent was part of the acquisition?

Both Hillis and Ferren are also listed as "Our Inventors" on notorious patent firm Intellectual Ventures' website: http://www.intellectualventures.com/whoweare/Inventors.aspx