From the Google Search that found everything on page 1 to today's AI wreck
Google Search has deteriorated sharply since it integrated AI: fewer results, more spam and obsolete operators. An analysis of the search engine's decline and its alternatives.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Google Search: from the page 1 that had it all to the AI disaster
In the year 2000, a Google search returned 20 pages of results. Today, the same search engine spits out seven links, four of them sponsored, and an AI-generated summary that often saves a click... but at the cost of depth. The paradox is that the engine that promised to organize the world's information now hides it behind layers of SEO, commercial censorship and synthetic answers.
The myth of the first page
Google wasn't always like this. Those who have been using the Internet for two decades remember when operators like "site:" or quotation marks worked to narrow down results. Now those filters have weakened to the point of being almost useless. An analysis widespread in technical circles points out that the search engine prioritizes AI-generated content and sponsored links over organic information. The consequence: what used to be found in seconds today requires diving into the second or third page, if the results haven't been omitted entirely.
It's not just the AI's fault. SEO has turned the first page into a commercial battlefield where pages optimized for the algorithm drown out those that actually have content. As a web development veteran puts it, "I don't understand why SEO people are held in high regard when they're the same plague as spammers."
Does AI make things better or worse?
Two positions clash. On one hand, defenders of the AI integrated into Google (such as the summary antiestéticature) point out that it saves time: instead of reading ten links, you get a direct answer. "It's like an assistant," says one user. But critics reply that this assistant often hallucinates or oversimplifies. A recurring example: searching for a book by García Márquez and finding only Wikipedia and three ads.
The majority view, however, agrees that Google has gotten worse. An article cited in the discussion, "The Men Who Killed Google", documents how business decisions (prioritizing advertising revenue over search quality) led to the decline. Another link lists the technical reasons: the end of exact operators, the opacity of the ranking, and the lack of truly relevant results.
Alternatives: Yandex, DuckDuckGo and the Deep Web myth
Faced with the deterioration, some have migrated to alternative engines. DuckDuckGo is mentioned as an option for everyday searches, while Yandex stands out for uncensored content (such as downloads or prono). Even the old "I'm Feeling Lucky" is brought up as a memory of simpler times. But most agree that no alternative matches the effectiveness of the Google of 2005.
The question that remains in the air is whether Google can reverse the trend or whether its advertising model condemns it to being a showcase for brands instead of a gateway to knowledge. For now, veteran users keep dreaming of that page 1 where everything was one click away.
Related discussions in the forum
In the year 2000, a Google search returned 20 pages of results. Today, the same search engine spits out seven links, four of them sponsored, and an AI-generated summary that often saves a click... but at the cost of depth. The paradox is that the engine that promised to organize the world's information now hides it behind layers of SEO, commercial censorship and synthetic answers.
The myth of the first page
Google wasn't always like this. Those who have been using the Internet for two decades remember when operators like "site:" or quotation marks worked to narrow down results. Now those filters have weakened to the point of being almost useless. An analysis widespread in technical circles points out that the search engine prioritizes AI-generated content and sponsored links over organic information. The consequence: what used to be found in seconds today requires diving into the second or third page, if the results haven't been omitted entirely.
It's not just the AI's fault. SEO has turned the first page into a commercial battlefield where pages optimized for the algorithm drown out those that actually have content. As a web development veteran puts it, "I don't understand why SEO people are held in high regard when they're the same plague as spammers."
Does AI make things better or worse?
Two positions clash. On one hand, defenders of the AI integrated into Google (such as the summary antiestéticature) point out that it saves time: instead of reading ten links, you get a direct answer. "It's like an assistant," says one user. But critics reply that this assistant often hallucinates or oversimplifies. A recurring example: searching for a book by García Márquez and finding only Wikipedia and three ads.
The majority view, however, agrees that Google has gotten worse. An article cited in the discussion, "The Men Who Killed Google", documents how business decisions (prioritizing advertising revenue over search quality) led to the decline. Another link lists the technical reasons: the end of exact operators, the opacity of the ranking, and the lack of truly relevant results.
Alternatives: Yandex, DuckDuckGo and the Deep Web myth
Faced with the deterioration, some have migrated to alternative engines. DuckDuckGo is mentioned as an option for everyday searches, while Yandex stands out for uncensored content (such as downloads or prono). Even the old "I'm Feeling Lucky" is brought up as a memory of simpler times. But most agree that no alternative matches the effectiveness of the Google of 2005.
The question that remains in the air is whether Google can reverse the trend or whether its advertising model condemns it to being a showcase for brands instead of a gateway to knowledge. For now, veteran users keep dreaming of that page 1 where everything was one click away.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (23 replies).
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