Lets face it, if you have good content then things will definately at the very least be more stable.

The sites that this site started about definately 'did' use some techniques that were/are considered spammy. I have seen a lot of apparent competitors fall by the way side with these google updates and 9 times out of ten they have been sites that are no more than directories and more than keyword stuffed.. I mean, dont be naive, ive stuffed the odd bit here and there myself but not in comparison to the dropped sites..

who said Without doubt the long term success rule..

As for those complaining about the cost of pay for clicks.. perhaps you are not using people that know what they are doing..?
There are bound to be terms for 'any' phrase/keywords that will cost you 10p and not $2 a click! You need to utilise these! Does your site only get found for several queries? We get found for hundreds and hundreds of similar terms/expressions/locations etc etc that benefit us and we obviously target a number of these phrases via pay for clicks at 10p and just skirtthe obvious terms that cost high bids.... However we also target words that cost us $2 a click because it pays! These particular words we have tested and get high roi!
I would consult a expert in this field or at least take a lot of time to know what you are doing or else yes, you will be throwing money down the drain and google etc cannot be blamed for taking advantage of that.