I've seen Google's search results and I think they are very relevant and are getting more relevant all the time. Frankly I think they do just enough to distinguish what are ads and what are search results. The reason most visitors can't tell the difference is because they don't care to learn the difference and they are accustomed to get what they want when they click on the first result. What do you reasonably expect them to do? Popup a message that says "this is an ad, are you sure you want to click on this link"?
>major penalties on websites to cut their unpaid traffic.
That is just a conspiracy theory on your part. Maybe you are butt-hurt that your site is not ranked how you would have liked. I worked in SEO for a few years and I've seen Google time and time again improve the results and weed out the scammy and "made for google" sites with real relevant content. How many sites are there that sell HD monitors? Thousands? Not all of them can be included in the top 10 results and I guarantee you that each one of them truly believes that their site deserves a spot on the top 10. Well guess what? Not all of them can be right.
>major penalties on websites to cut their unpaid traffic.
That is just a conspiracy theory on your part. Maybe you are butt-hurt that your site is not ranked how you would have liked. I worked in SEO for a few years and I've seen Google time and time again improve the results and weed out the scammy and "made for google" sites with real relevant content. How many sites are there that sell HD monitors? Thousands? Not all of them can be included in the top 10 results and I guarantee you that each one of them truly believes that their site deserves a spot on the top 10. Well guess what? Not all of them can be right.