RIP Google Search 1998-2024

Ars Technica reports Google Search adds a “web” filter, because it is no longer focused on web results:

Google Search now has an option to search the “web,” which is not the default anymore.

That’s bringing enshitification to the next level. RIP Google Search 1998-2024.

Google claims “that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query,” but that’s honestly hard to believe.

Riiiight.

People use Google search like the URL bar. People associate Google with the web. People believe you need Google to access “the internet”.

So what now? Burning the planet more so that you can continue to extract revenue and become even less useful? Google search used to be very useful. Now it will be just another crappy service.

Looks like no one of working on a search engine anymore…

Startup idea.