PERMALINK

This article was inspired by the writings of Cory Doctorow

Bullshit-As-A-Service

Like many of you, I have grown increasingly frustrated with the results from Google Search. Over the years, we have watched Google’s flagship product degrade from a magical fountain of information into the SEO-optimized, AI-integrated, data-harvesting platform we see today. With the recent addition of AI chats and AI search, it has become even worse.

Google Search, for years now, has sucked eggs.

By 2024, it was evident that Google had lost the battle to SEO spammers, grifters, and bots. Its own content is now buried under endless promotional results, often littered with malware disguised as links or ads.

The people who benefit most from SEO are not creators or Google itself, but bad actors who exploit SEO to lure unsuspecting users into scams.

Recently, Google seems more focused on manipulating its share price through “buybacks” and mass layoffs of core staff:

https://qz.com/google-is-laying-off-hundreds-as-it-moves-core-jobs-abr-1851449528

Product makers have noticed the decline in search quality, as it directly affects revenue.

Housefresh report on AI Overview

According to air purifier manufacturer Housefresh, Google’s new “AI Overview,” now attached to nearly every search, is hurting businesses:

https://housefresh.com/beware-of-the-google-ai-salesman/

Google’s search model depends on harmony between users, product makers, and advertisers. The “AI Overview” undermines this balance. Previously, product makers could use quality content to boost their rankings through SEO.

But Google is a monopoly; normal free-market rules don’t apply.

In theory, AI Overview should help users by providing high-quality information faster. In practice, it fails.

According to Housefresh, Google’s AI Overview not only struggles to retrieve quality information but often actively avoids it. They found that it follows a predictable template when asked about an air purifier’s value:

The [model] air purifier is [a worthwhile investment/generally considered a good value for its price/a worthwhile purchase]. It’s [praised/well-regarded] for its ability to [clean the air/remove particles/clean large rooms]. Whether the [product] is worth it depends on individual needs and priorities.

AI Overview cannot even list a product’s negative aspects. Ask about a product’s cons, and it sidesteps the question entirely.

The Housefresh report breaks down AI Overview citations for air purifier tests as follows:

• 43.1% come from product manufacturers’ marketing materials.
• 19.5% are sourced from pages with no relevant information about the product.

Costs

The real kicker: the cost to Google of delivering this “amazing” new feature.

AI burns money, but it lets Google craft a narrative of cutting-edge growth to attract new investors and reassure existing ones.

This is why you are being nudged to use AI. Every prompt to engage with AI Overview is reported to investors as “Gemini Users.”

Closing thoughts

Despite all this, AI enthusiasts still insist that AI will one day become a godlike savior. Tech companies, however, are not investing billions because they believe this—they do it because they have to. It is the same cycle that brought us NFTs, the metaverse, and crypto, all sold by the same grifters.

Google Search is no longer on life support. It is dead, with no way back.