> I think it may be a simple consequence of the fact that Google Search is increasingly less of a searching engine and more of an answering engine.

I've been thinking about this, and it seems very plausible to me. Which means that Google Search isn't really "search" anymore -- which explains why it's become so bad at that!

Too bad. I remember when Google had the best search engine going. It was a real game-changer. Those days are long gone.