If I'm reading correctly, they're saying that google is much better that filtering out SEO spam. I'm no expert, but maybe some of the supposed "spam" may have some actual relevant content, and that they are just good at gaming SEO. However, this doesn't excuse google from blatantly placing advertised links as top search results, even if they aren't relevant at all.

I'm okay with ads, but I find it misleading when they appear as the top search results. I'd be okay with them if they were placed after the top 3 actual relevant results. Even better if ads were on a side bar area.

So far, for most of the random things I search, ddg has given me more relevant and useful results than google (just casual testing over a month), even if they are better at filtering out SEO spam. I may check out google again for some searches, but so far, ddg has been working well for me.