They may domninate the download-and-own market. However they still need to compete with other distribution mode, e.g. Netflix and Hulu in video, Spotify and Pandora in music.
I just want to add the author of the article, i.e. Hal Berenson, is one of the key architect behind SQL Server 7.0 which is a rewrite from the legacy Sybase code. More information can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/about/technicalrecognition/SQL-Serv...
Combing features 130, 131, 135 and 136, I think it is understandable what Google engineers did can give those fake links a boost in the search results. In a way, they cheated the algorithm.