Did Google get bigger or better?

Google claims to be re-launching its search engines according to The Guardian.
It’s refinement brings together all internet content from text to video and has required the effort of more than 100 engineers and involved a major revamp of the company's software platform.
The Guardian claims that there will be an "experimental" pilot services allowing users to see a timeline on a subject or a map flagging important locations in an individual's life.
Up to now, Google has been building separate search engines in individual "silos" for different types of media - videos, books, blogs, news, maps and pictures. Combining them all means writing code that can measure the relevance of a picture against a piece of text.
I love Google – hell, I blog on a Google platform - but I am frequently frustrated by the search results – especially when I know they are out there. So I hope I will pleased with the new Uber Google.
My worry is that Google is now the new Microsoft (I have nothing against MS but flinch at big institutions) and, in future, I worry what I will get from them will be pushed on me rather than pulled by me.