It's not due to some Google-fu though. People ask questions (on SO) in the terms they think about problems. But documentation is written according to the structure of the thing being documented.
So SO ends up being a more direct mapping from problem to solution. Google simply captures what's there (in both cases). It's certainly good to consult the authoritative docs in many cases.
Also, SO optimize for Google (it's a large part of their traffic and they are a successful business) while most documentation efforts don't have the resources or inclination to work hard on SEO.
It's not due to some Google-fu though. People ask questions (on SO) in the terms they think about problems. But documentation is written according to the structure of the thing being documented.
So SO ends up being a more direct mapping from problem to solution. Google simply captures what's there (in both cases). It's certainly good to consult the authoritative docs in many cases.