this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2026
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659
‘I miss old Google’: readers tell us how they search the internet in the age of AI (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Corvidae@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Google has put artificial intelligence at the front and center of its search bar. The most-visited site on the internet still shows the same list of links to users, but they have to scroll past a summarized response from an AI chatbot, a feature Google calls AI Overviews. The change to what was once the gateway to the rest of the internet has been profound, and the browsing habits of billions of people are shifting.

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[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

SEO is what ruined Google, then AI came along and was used to SEO the shit out of the shittiest websites

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

SEO is a never-ending arms race, and you're right - it's the real thing that spoiled the "golden web" we remember. Search engines have actually improved, but SEO has "improved" more.

[–] SparroHawc@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

You say that, but Google has explicitly been made worse in order to force people to look through more search results, so that Google can make more money on ads. Remember when you could use logical operators in search criteria to get better results?

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, Google has been trashed as well, "Don't be evil" evaporated after about 10 years.

To get "old style results" try an AI prompt like: Give me a 2006 style Google search result of the modern web for the search “Apple Pie Recipe”

And if you like your boolean operators you could try: Give me a 2006 style Google search result of the modern web for the search: Apple Pie Recipe Not "Martha Stewart"

[–] SparroHawc@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'd much rather just take my searches elsewhere.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 1 points 1 day ago

I'd do that, if I got better results elsewhere - so far, for my purposes, when I try DDG or Bing or Brave or whatever, I'm not impressed.