Backlinks

While I know that Google still has some level of favoritism on backlinks for SEO I think it may be safe to say that new backlinking and new properties trying to gain a foothold are in a more perilous position than ever. All I ever see with competitor sites are bulk buying of backlinks from indifferent or content farm sites and adds no value from the audience’s perspective. With the reduction of people searching overall, at least as their primary source at times, I’m just really curious of the real value of back links, and if Google’s ever going to change some of the methodology behind that Am I missing something here.