I think the issue here is really simple. Google has learned that it is more profitable to infer the intent of a query & tell people what to think up front based upon a carefully crafted set of advertiser criteria. It is difficult to appease your paying customers when you give the non-paying customers direct access to the most likely match for their query and allow them to draw their own conclusions from the information.

Put differently, there is a conflict of interest inherent in the very nature of Google's business. It can only become a steeper death spiral from here if the motive continues to be profit above all else.