google groups/google search

[D]

as a layman i'm inclined to ask naive questions . . . have google groups posts
affected google search rankings, possibly independent of their nearly obsolete
usenet connection which might help to explain the incomparably vast quantities
of spam passed along to usenet newsgroups without any regard whatsoever to the
irreparable consequences they have wrought against unwary users of this user's
network? some might say it's deliberate, "embrace, extend, extinguish" tactics