Google search failed to even find a hollywood movie, even after 1 hour of attempts. I don’t really care about the movie, but I am terrified by the prospect that google now ceased to function on this basic level. Why is this happening?

I understand the explanations of seo and other stuff like spam content. But why are there NO relevant results at all.

I wouldn’t mind having to start wading through results at page 2 or even 10 but now it utterly fails to find even the most basic things.

Things you found on the first attempt even just a year ago. Now they are effectively hidden.

To me functionally the entire internet has now vanished. I cannot access anything that I am searching for. Might as well not exist at all.

Has anybody found a way around this?

Is this on purpose? Is this an attack on the free internet, herding people to just the top 5 sites like facebook, youtube, tiktok, and so forth?

Are there search engines that still work?

  • recapitated@lemmy.world
    112·
    11 months ago

    I seem to find what I need. DDG is my default search and I still end up switching over to google more than half the time to get what I’m looking for.

    Do I wish Google wasn’t annoying and greedy? Yes. I don’t think any corporation owes me that specifically though. But we do owe it to each other to bring attention to it and even reduce demand for it when possible.

    • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
      2·
      11 months ago

      They don’t owe me anything, no. But I don’t owe them anything either. If they aren’t serving my needs anymore (and they often aren’t), I’ll be taking my “business” (that is, my product) elsewhere.

      • drev@lemmy.world
        3·
        11 months ago

        I share the same sentiment, but the problem is finding a better “elsewhere”.

        Google search used to be so far beyond the capabilities of all other search engines, but lately it’s been closing that gap from the top down. Even in its enshittified state, it still outperforms the other search engines out there more consistently, albeit just barely.

        That’s my experience anyway, I would love to be introduced to something better if anyone happens to have suggestions!

        • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
          3·
          11 months ago

          For a year or two that answer has been “Google, but append site:reddit.com” to the end. Now, who knows. We should go back to webrings.

          • drev@lemmy.world
            1·
            11 months ago

            It’s unfortunate how often it is that the best solution is to combine the powers of 2 sites that have been (not so) recently dipping their toes into the “detestable corporations” side of things.