>I’d be willing to bet that most people with the gall to do their own research will look beyond the first result that appears on the SERP...
Once again this is thinking that doesn't go beyond the first layer. If this situation is possible for the first link, it is possible for the second and the third and everything on the first 5 pages. However deep this hypothetical researcher is willing to go, if there are enough billions at stake the manipulator can keep pumping out misinformation. They have a financial incentive to lie and no one has a strong financial incentive for truth so how does this researcher find the needle of truth in the haystack of lies?
It goes far beyond the first layer, to the ultimate layer: what is the basis of our presuppositions about knowledge? How do we authenticate what we think we know?
We fundamentally can’t for most of our knowledge given the complexities of the modern world. Which is why the whole “do your own research” suggestion is BS. There simply isn’t enough time in the day to become an expert in everything in order to be able to accurately judge the validity of most research. That is why stopping the spread of misinformation has value because most people do not have the expertise to identify all misinformation.
Once again this is thinking that doesn't go beyond the first layer. If this situation is possible for the first link, it is possible for the second and the third and everything on the first 5 pages. However deep this hypothetical researcher is willing to go, if there are enough billions at stake the manipulator can keep pumping out misinformation. They have a financial incentive to lie and no one has a strong financial incentive for truth so how does this researcher find the needle of truth in the haystack of lies?