What's the deal with these? Are these real queries in the SQL sense?

Example: if I use the Web Query option under Data--Get External Data does
the wizard generate some SQL in the background to import, say, a stock tabel
from finance.google.com?

It seems to me that it just does a copy and paste. I can do that on my own.

Am I missing something here?
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.