alt Hacker NewsBut that's so dumb. Google search didn't die in 2019.
The PageRank algorithm, and importantly, any algorithm which depends on page content and pages linking to each other and referencing each other was DoA, because it only worked in an adversary free context! The very second there was a real incentive to be at the top of Google's search results, their algorithms were going to be attacked and manipulated.
That makes "search" a neverending arms race. The very thing that launched Google as some amazing thing was doomed from the start. They've been laying hacks on top of hacks on top of hacks ever since. It's been shit basically since SEO has existed, which is what the "adversary" is.
Another good point for when google "died" was when they bought doubleclick. They were an ad company from that point on. There was never a good outcome possible after that. If ads were something that benefited you the user, you would have to pay for them.
Ed’s piece on this is considered pretty authoritative. There was a very specific moment where they determined, concretely, ad placement > utility of search results. Combined with years of damage from encouraging SEO tactics…well, here we are. Sure maybe this was always going to be the outcome, but we do know the major decisions that directly lead to this result as it played out.
If you haven’t read it from start to finish you should. If you have, what about it is insufficient?