You have it all backwards. If the money that changes hands doesn't influence the search result, then the money won't change hands. An advertisement customer wo

You have it all backwards. If the money that changes hands doesn't influence the search result, then the money won't change hands. An advertisement customer won't pay in order to not influence what the audience gets to see. Also, the theoretical possibility that money doesn't necessarily influence decisions is not exactly a good reason to accept the risk that it does after all. If that were a sensible argument, you could just throw out all anti-corruption legislation, because it is very much theoretically possible for a bribed person to still make a decision that's not influenced by the bribery.