I'm afraid the author has it wrong when he claims what Google cares about is "It cares about giv­ing you great an­swers to the ques­tions that mat­ter to you ri

I'm afraid the author has it wrong when he claims what Google cares about is "It cares about giv­ing you great an­swers to the ques­tions that mat­ter to you right now." It cares about making money via ad revenue. Even assuming that it gives you "great answers to questions that matter to you right now", it only cares about doing so if that results in making money via ad revenue. The result set is a means to an end, not the end itself. If more money can be made via ad revenue by providing some other result set, that is what it will become the preferred method. Google is not a search business despite opinions to the contrary. A search business would have as its main source of revenue customers paying for either search results or the search technology itself. Google makes its money via the delivery of ads, through its own advertising sales and placement platforms and through the audience it can provide from its own content.