google groups/google search

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