Google ain’t that clever (or is there a hidden agenda?)

Thanks for the tip.

I don't have the time to get into search engine optimisation, I'm afraid.

I feel that I shouldn't have to, that Google should be clever enough to identify my site as a good one and rate it better - why should a site with 400+ pages about a specific topic be rated less that a generic one with only 3 for the same?

Now that Google has gone public and priorities are shifted to generating revenue, how unrealistic is the idea  that Google may favour sites that are less likely to be Ad Words clients so those that are find themselves at the bottom of the list?