Orrr we could just demand that people build sites like this willingly and then we all don't have to let megabucks-Google become the arbiter of right and wrong?
Well, that just isn't happening and hasn't happened for years. So someone stepping up to define a standard focused on performance is a good thing in principle. You also need incentives for that standard to get adopted. Of course google shouldn't be the only player here, others should participate in this too.