Since this is the only company worth talking about nowadays — and because there is so much conjecture about what they will do with that $4 billion they raised a few days ago, I would dare say that based upon their previous company acquisitions: Google will not buy AOL.
So far, their strategy has been to simply purchase start-ups or small private firms which specialize in key areas (e.g. semantic ad generation, Blogger, Picasa). I would not say they are misers, just frugal with their money (since the founders cited Warren Buffett as a key influence, perhaps his meticulous due diligence has rubbed off on them as well).
When I get a chance, I’ll try to rewrite some interesting email conversations I have had with an associate who is in the network design industry for a large IT services company.
Oh, and for the record: despite sponsoring at least 3 public hotspots (San Francisco, Mountain View and New York City), I do not think Google will become a WISP anytime soon either (if at all).