How much of it is Google getting worse and how much of it is garbage websites hyperoptimizing for SEO?
Those are the same thing. If garbage websites can game their way up the search listing then Google is failing.
This is a simple problem of competition. Google doesn't have any, so they don't need to provide a good product. They can optimize for ad placement and revenue instead of search quality because users perceive that they have no real choice but to use Google. If another search engine manages to get some real market share Google results will get much better again.
Those are the same thing. If garbage websites can game their way up the search listing then Google is failing.
This is a simple problem of competition. Google doesn't have any, so they don't need to provide a good product. They can optimize for ad placement and revenue instead of search quality because users perceive that they have no real choice but to use Google. If another search engine manages to get some real market share Google results will get much better again.