But do we care? This calls back to a web of interconnected, non-commercial websites. Before Google there certainly were search engine websites but they weren't

But do we care? This calls back to a web of interconnected, non-commercial websites. Before Google there certainly were search engine websites but they weren't the big internet hub Google is today. Instead people created webrings, toplists, link sites, directories (DMOZ!) to drive traffic, leading to fewer but more curated content I really don't miss the bright and GIFy aesthetic, but I do miss a web to really "surf" from homepage to homepage, losing track of time, instead of "grinding" the same pages over and over. There are some places that still evoke this feeling, notably Wikipedia and TVTropes