There's a point that perhaps we're all missing and that's what the purpose of the Web -- as opposed to the search engines -- is and I believe orginally was: to enable everyone and his brother, sister, nieces, nephews, and whoever else to create a site that people could refer to when, if, and as they choose. All that was required was the technology that made the creation and uploading of sites possible and this, among other things, came down simply to the allocation of an URL, which could-be/would-be visitors could be informed of by one means or another.
But then enter the search engines with an avowed purpose of indexing as many sites as possible and then organizing them in such a way that people who knew absolutely nothing about them could reach those that represented (by search engine standards/opinions/algos/filters/whatever) the most appropriate/relevant response to a given/imagined search keyword or phrase.
The two purposes are quite different. Their origins aren't the same and the degree (or not) of satisfaction is going to vary accordingly.
On the one hand, assuming that I've been able to create a site and told someone what its URL happens to be, the web should find and display the site -- and, from all my experience to date, this happens.
On the other hand, if I want people to find the site when they aren't aware of its URL (or don't even know that the site exists), it's up to the search engines to come forth if they can or are disposed to do so -- and herein lies all the mutterings about SERPs and the seeming insensitivity of the guys/gals who program algos that end up with spam, irrrelevant sites, and -- so help us -- NOT the result (i.e. our own site) we want to see in the Top Ten.
So I don't think it matters one iota whether the web is bloated or not. If anyone and his brother etc., etc, has the ability (or at least the opportunity) to have and upload a site to the web, let's be truly thankful for it and acknowledge that the results are everything they were intended to be from Day One.
And if the search engines frustrate us with their apparent unwillingness to behave in our site's favour, then such are the breaks and we surely have to accept this fact regardless of how unpleasant it can sometimes (too often?) be.
We can't be all things to all people and we can't expect Google, Yahoo, MSN, et al to do our bidding simply because we want them to do so. It's enough that our sites DO exist. The rest is up to us -- and, thanks to WPW among others, help in this regard IS at hand.
(End of rant and pontification)
Duncan
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