I don't the same level of vitriol towards ads as some, particularly on something like search where there is a clear intent to find something and an ad may well

I don't the same level of vitriol towards ads as some, particularly on something like search where there is a clear intent to find something and an ad may well be the most appropriate result. Like if I search for "Bosch vacujm" why isn't an ad for a retailer selling one the most appropriate? Just so long as ads are clearly labelled as such I'm completely fine with it. But the whole content farming thing is much worse and it explains the "reddit" thing. Searching for reviews is now impossible because of all the astroturfed affiliate link spam. Adding "site:reddit.com" is one of the few remaining ways to find real people talking about something. That woo will probably end at some point. But this is a good example of how a metric that becomes a target ceases to be valuable as a metric. In this case, the links between pages became a goal so those links, the content on the pages and the SEO became a game and it doesn't matter if it's Google or someone else. If anything, affiliate links are a much bigger problem because they fund this "industry". There will always be a need for search. Google search isn't going anywhere.