Google has absolutely changed in the past 10 years. Have you tried looking for something obscure recently? Google increasingly over time takes more and more liberties with your search terms, regardless of operator use.

I notice that one of the pages you link to is from 2012. Again, the old ways just don't cut it any more. Since it doesn't even mention Google's "Verbatim" search option, it suggests to me that while its content might be technically correct, it's useless to hand-wave towards it as the cure for contemporary complaints about Google's results.