Google has a track record of dumbing down search. They keep the syntax watered-down so non-technical users can use their tools. For all the simplicity, their engines have to be very sophisticated to try to guess what the user really wants -- and this still does not achieve results that you can get with a more sophisticated query language.

E.g., what if you want to find all content where the word chocolate appears within 3 words of the word coconut? This capability existed before Google came into existence; on Lexus-Nexus you would search for "chocolate w/3 coconut". The same search is impossible on google, because google is designed for simple users.

Google is good at coming up with the best results for a poorly specified query. But what advanced users prefer are decent results from a well specified query.