The interests of web site owners align a lot with the web itself. And referrer headers are much easier than having to build a search engine and being at their whims.
"The interests of web site owners align a lot with the web itself."
Not in this particular case.
"And referrer headers are much easier than having to build a search engine and being at their whims."
Absolutely. And if your browser sent a HTTP header containing your name, address, sexual preferences and date of birth, that would also make things even better for website owners. Just imagine how much better they could target their adverts!
