If you enter the IP addresses of some Google datacenters like
66.249.93.104, 64.233.179.104, 216.239.51.104
you don't get any sign in, personalized homepage links.

I wonder if your search keywords are still recorded.

From what I tested, it seems Google doesn't record your searches. At least, the keywors don't show up in Personalized Search.

But internally Google still always records your searches... at least they can. Even a look at a log-file will reveal the search terms...

But of course it's not as easy to track the person behind them if you're not signed in.

At least you don't see the ugly links from the right corner:
yougmail.com | Search History | My Account | Sign out

They are so Yahoo-ish.

They're slightly misplaced. I got a feeling Google didn't know where to put them, but that they will move them somewhere better someday...

it's amazing how stark Google's homepage is (in a good way)
It's also amazing how crappy myspace looks (on it's homepage) given it's popularity.