That's a very fair point, and I've complained about that degradation on Google many, many times over the years on HN, but I also don't think that's what Google

That's a very fair point, and I've complained about that degradation on Google many, many times over the years on HN, but I also don't think that's what Google was responding to. The Wired article has been taken down, but I'm assuming it was arguing that Google would change organic results to get more ad clicks. Google is saying here that ad results and organic results are 2 independent, orthogonal systems. Again, your point is one I strongly agree with, but it's also taken out-of-context with respect to the article Google was responding to.