Yes, blog search is bad:

What do you think? Do any of the blog search engines meet your needs? I find I am very unsatisfied with all of the blog search engines.

When I spoke to the EUFA the other day I wanted to show them the top soccer bloggers, but I couldn’t figure that out. How do you find the top blogs in a field that you aren’t yet following?

The trouble is, I don't know how motivated Google is to fix the problem. Most people don't use blog search specifically; they just search Google, either via the toolbar in their browser, or via the home page of the engine. Blog search is like RSS/Atom itself - mostly invisible to the end user, but of great interest to the "thought leaders" in the field.

With RSS/Atom, browser integration will make most people into silent users. I have no idea what event (if any) will kick blog search.