signor_john - 10:17 pm on Feb 4, 2009 (gmt 0)

There's a lot less "win" for webmasters whose sites are monetized through advertising and so depend on an actual visitor for their revenues.

It may not be good for the kind of Web site that counts on users arriving on a page with three AdSense units above the fold and exiting via the nearest PPC link. But in the long run, it should benefit sites that present an attractive, informative face to users by sending them a bigger share of search referrals.

In any case, Google Search's main concern has to be about the quality of its product and its user experience. It's wishful thinking to imagine that Google would--or should--keep the status quo intact just because progress might not benefit every Webmaster or SEO.