You are definitely right, however the way Google became Google and stays ahead of the others is a clear exception of this.
Technology matters, it matters too much that Microsoft with millions of dollars cannot build a better search engine. Microsoft would spend a billion if they knew they can do as good as Google.
There are small companies as well that solely focus technical excellence.
If you are going to rely on technology only then your technology shouldn't be just slightly better it should be way better than the others.
There have been blind user studies that show that users like Bing's results as much as Google's when the logo is removed (if not more).
You don't realize it, but you're making an argument for the strength of their branding, which is at least partially (if not entirely) due to the amount Google spends to be the default search engine in just about everything. Yes, they have to have good search results, but that's far from the whole story.
I wonder what was the audience of those studies, to me it sounds insane that Bing is as good as Google, but maybe you are right, I'm brain-washed by the Google brand.
Technology matters, it matters too much that Microsoft with millions of dollars cannot build a better search engine. Microsoft would spend a billion if they knew they can do as good as Google.
There are small companies as well that solely focus technical excellence.
If you are going to rely on technology only then your technology shouldn't be just slightly better it should be way better than the others.