Came here to reply similar to the post you replied to that Google just ain't what it used to be, and I do have to go to the next page, often. I'll have to be crafty about how I enter search terms and I'll often have to rerun a search with some exclusion terms to keep the nonsense out of the way.Sometimes I feel this way but the other day I was thinking to myself "When is the last time I had to click on the next page for google results?"
Google used to provide answers. Now it provides links to services.
If you can get past the sponsored ads and all of the business motivated "organic" results, you might be able to find what you're looking for.