>And as long as Google is in the business of both search and advertising, that will not change.
This has always been the case and general sentiment hasn't always been that search was bad. The only way they wouldn't be in search and advertising is if they charged for search, because ads pay for it. They know it is in their best interest to keep search results good so that people will keep using them and see ads. They seem to be losing the battle right now against SEO and marketing firms.
They actually are not in the business of search, though -- at least not anymore. Search is just the hook to show the ads.
As long as the incentives are the way they are, things will not change and will get worse from a search quality perspective.