I agree with dburdon. Beyond that, Google is simply the king of the hill for the moment. Before Google, it was Yahoo! If Google was gone tomorrow, something else would simply take its place. Sites that don't use AdWords or AdSense are not working for Google.

A better analogy would be if you're not flying American Airlines to New York, you'd be flying United. There is very little difference between the main three SEs. One wouldn't say without McDonald's we would have to eat dirt. Although, McDonald's is the most popular fast food, it is hardly the best. Don't confuse popularity with superiority.

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