If a search engine was so good that it could give me the result I want first or second or third time, would that put the search engine out of business?

Isn't it within the search engines interests to make 'us' search their search engine for what we want?

I personally have not found that the results I get back from a search engine are any better than they use to be! In fact I think getting to the page you want is harder than ever because the crap you get back is even worse.

What are your views?

I like google, I can almost always find what I need. there really isnt a better way to do it because context matters so much. you can say "dyke" and be looking for two totally different things.

lol i just learned today google is worth 120+ billion dollars because of a new video search there adding that is supposed to be revolutionary

Yes, it is possible; Google is a "good search engine".

Look for documentation that may provide new ways to query the search engine, therefore retrieving better results.

You may be interested in the following information:

Google Tips:
http://www.google.com/help/refinesearch.html
http://www.googleguide.com/crafting_queries.html
http://www.virtualchase.com/howto/gg_tips.html

I hope this information can help you in retrieving better results.

lol i just learned today google is worth 120+ billion dollars because of a new video search there adding that is supposed to be revolutionary

Thats old news.