I hate auto updates too. Sadly, that's what it's become. You can't open your computer nowdays without having some sort of software wanting to update or begging you to update it. Even simple software like acrobat and flash. WTF? Why does it need to be updated so often? Code it one way, test it, stick with it at least for a few months. Java is bad too. Almost any java site you go to, you need to update java or flash, or something else.
Not a huge deal in a home environment, but in a corporate environment it's a pita. User 1 wants to go to site A, and it works fine, user 2 wants to go to site B, and needs a newer version of flash, and calls help desk to get it installed. Now you have two versions of flash, which one is corporate standard now? Then user 3 comes along and needs java for some site, now you have another version of java, now some other app this user uses wont work anymore, now you need to find a work around.
Why have all these different updates and versions? Do it right the first time, and stick with it. Then once every 6 months, introduce a new major version for new features and what not. Would make so much more sense if they did this.
Speaking in general here, not just Google software.