Yes that's exactly the point! If a drug is only as effective as placebo then it's a failure. That's exactly why they don't just compare the drug to the control

Yes that's exactly the point! If a drug is only as effective as placebo then it's a failure. That's exactly why they don't just compare the drug to the control group who doesn't get any medication at all! In a hypothetical but semi-realistic case let's say 300 people are taking part in a trial. 100 will be the control group that gets nothing. Maybe 20 people will get better on their own. Next is the placebo group, who think they are getting some awesome new meds. Out of 100 people maybe 40 will get better on their own. Next is the group that actually gets the medication. Now if only 40 out of 100 get better than they know the medicine is no better than placebo and doesn't actually do anything. Notice that if there wasn't a placebo group people would assume that the drug actually helps people because it performs better than the control group. You seem to be confusing placebo with someone randomly getting better (the 20% of the control group). The whole idea of placebo is that you're more likely to "randomly get better" when you think you're going to get better (the 40% compared to the 20%). The implications of this is that somehow the brain is involved in healing the body.