Nope, this is true.
If you have a sponsored ad that comes up the first page of Google, it is 4-5$ per click for most topics.
I know this for a fact, as I used to have them on Google.
Of course, the price goes down as your ad appears lower in the list, or on subsequent pages.
No excuses, start using a different engine.
Interesting. Sounds high, but I guess someone out there will pay for positioning.