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Search engines seem like they're subject to quantum mechanics, in that they're the observer that affects the state of the internet. An internet without search
by pwinnski 6y ago
Search engines seem like they're subject to quantum mechanics, in that they're the observer that affects the state of the internet.
An internet without search engines was an internet without SEO, and without vast fortunes being spent on manipulating content to sell garbage. Launching "Backrub" in that environment must have seemed like an unalloyed good, but the very act of launching it turned out to have a profoundly negative impact on the web as a whole.
- pwinnski 6y agoI guess I mean this as a semi-defense of Google, even though I don't like them and use DDG personally. When doing a search on travel, what are the odds you get not-garbage in your results? Compare, say, 2000 to 2020. I can see a scenario in which Google was committed to providing open results, but those open results slowly became garbage, and they felt compelled to launch their own tool to ensure good results. And sure, it puts profit in their pocket too, of course.