Some of the .md sites still do well, while for more competitve terms like blackjack (#18) and poker (#20) they fell more.
Penalizing crosslinking isn’t a good idea, but putting a dampening factor on the effect is a good idea, and Google already does that to some degree. Perhaps they should do more. Some people here would disagree with you.
“Make me think otherwise.”
It should be easy. Adwords is penny ante stuff in this context. Right now for Google adwords revenue is totally irrelevant to them. Remember, Google is owned by a few folks. This is not some corporate enitity where money made or lost isn’t that important to any individuals. A small number of people control Google, what it does, and get the huge bulk of the rewards.
Everything about Google now is focused on the IPO. They have been waiting to roll out these better results (and likely will tweak them even better twice more) just in advance of their IPO. What is at stake there is literally billions and billions of dollars.
To put it in perspective, suppose you had a $200,000 home that you owned outright and were going to sell. Would you then intentionally break out all the windows, paint it puke orange, set fire to the carpets, and take out all the plumbing fixtures… just because someone would give you $500 to do it?
Not a chance in the world.
Adwords conspiracy theories focus on Google maybe making five million dollars while putting twenty BILLION at risk.
The decisionmakers at Google right now don’t give one tenth of a crap about adwords right now!