[barfbagginus]

Yeah, the pejoratives were not the argument. They were clearly put there to make the reading /freaking hilarious/ for anyone on board with "Google Bad".

But I wonder if there was a deeper strategy: were the attacks put there so that Google gatekeepers would ignore the article's insights?

It could have a similar effect to Cory Doctor's concept of enshittification. I don't know if it's intentional, but the vulgarity of the term seems to prevent committed enshittifiers from reflecting critically about enshittification and how to stop in time to avoid a collapse. After feeling the insult, enshittware supporters seem to conclude enshittification is a non-existent category.

It would be fun to learn these are intentional choices, designed to sabotage the criticized party on an epistemological level!