shy-replacement-views-query.php

<?php

/**
 * Implements hook_views_query_alter().
 */
function ramsalt_shy_replacement_views_query_alter(&$view, &$query) {
  if ($view->name === 'frontpage_admin') {
    foreach ($query->where[1]['conditions'] as $delta => $condition) {
      if ($condition['field'] === 'node.title') {
        $query->add_where_expression(1, "REPLACE(node.title, '=', '') " . $condition['operator'] . " '" . $condition['value'] . "'");
        unset($query->where[1]['conditions'][$delta]);
      }
    }
  }
}

Side-effect. It's a simple REPLACE(), not the more complex pattern we're using in PHP: /([a-z]+)=([a-z]+)/i