Google algo change on competitive sites

More emphasis on index page content

[t2dman]

I have noticed some changes in the serps on my main competitive keywords - has anyone else noticed?

Less emphasis on ODP listing, titles, PR, text in backlinks etc
More emphasis on index page, keywords on index page content, url in domain name

My serps have improved when I have deleted a specifically titled/optimised page and instead used those words on the index page. On non-competitive keywords, the specifically titled/optimised subpage works fine - top every time.

Only problem, it has been very hard to write text that makes sense when shown on Google, for so many keyword combinations. Have thought about subdomains (would satisfy my reading of the algo change), but don't want to spam the serps. However, it looks the only option for the very competitive keywords.