I think you make a good point but I disagree on the conclusion. Even if it works well I don't think Search is the be-all-end-all

In my opinion the ideal web is one that is properly categorized via url. For example, if I knew all magazines had an author listing at "magazine_url/Authors" then it would be easier for me to type in Time.com/Authors then it would be to use Search.

Now obviously things aren't that well organized right now but REST has done a lot to move us in that direction and I have no reason to think that wouldn't continue. If things are someday that organized it won't matter if users have grown accustomed to hiding the url.

So while I agree this is savvy for Google because it makes the user more dependent on search I don't think this is good for the web.