[xnorswap]

> I also don't seem to be able to use internet search anymore

A bit off topic, but you're not the only one. I've grown up with the internet and yet I'm now completely unable to find things on demand.

I sometimes resort to claude, not because I want to, but because it's so difficult to search the real internet now. Asking claude, then asking claude for sources, can uncover hidden gems. ( It can also reveal claude talking out of its arse. )

[inigyou]

I believe this is often because things fall off the internet. Back in the early days, things were added more frequently than they were removed, because there wasn't much to remove. Now, it's reached equilibrium - things are also frequently removed.

[xnorswap]

That's true of some things, but sometimes there are things that exist, but google no longer reliably surfaces in a way that it once did.

Search anything and you are bombarded with unoriginal sites, optimised for SEO, filled with generated rubbish and adverts.

There used to be an arms-race between google and SEO spam that Google could keep up with, if not ahead.

But it feels like at some point in the past decade, google just gave up and let them win.

[inigyou]

I feel more like Google combatted SEO spam by using a domain whitelist, which your website will never be on