The following scathing criticism of Google was suggested to me by YouTube’s algorithms after I had watched an investigation by Karen Hao into AI psychosis. In ‘I miss how Google used to work’, Sean Morrow of the newsroom ‘More Perfect Union’, which ‘report[s] on the real struggles and challenges of the working class from a working-class perspective’, intersperses the results of his research on the quality decline in the results provided by this world-famous search engine with extracts of his interview with the English PR man Ed Zitron, who is known for his critical voice against the prevailing hype surrounding Silicon Valley tech.

Ed Zitron explains how, under leaders like Eric Schmidt and Sundar Pichai, Google evolved into an advertising monopoly by acquiring companies to dominate ad tech and manipulate search for revenues. ‘I miss how Google used to work’ also highlights how SEO practices degraded web content (e.g. lengthy recipe intros for ad exposure), ads blurred with organic results, and how executives like Prabhakar Raghavan prioritised query volume over quality. Finally, Sean Morrow explains how the integration of AI, e.g. Gemini, has exacerbated these issues, with rushed human workers training it on potentially flawed data, thereby leading to inaccurate outputs.

Founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998 with the ethos ‘Don't be evil’, the company initially prioritised user-focused results but evolved under the leadership of growth-obsessed executives into a company focusing on milking advertising revenues, which caused it to become detached from its users in the process. Sean Morrow also mentions Google’s antitrust battles and suggests that it ought either to be broken up or to face public pressure to mend its ways as, according to Sean Morrow, access to information is too important a matter: ‘They are monopolists, just like the barons before them, and they need to be treated like it’.

To Google’s credit, the company is not trying to hide that some users are dissatisfied with the quality of its search engine results. When I used the cheeky statement Sean Morrow types in the Google search box (‘Google search engine sucks now’), Google AI replied as follows to my same query on 28 October: ‘Google is often criticized for declining search quality due to factors like an increase in ads, spam, and SEO manipulation. Many users feel that the search results are becoming less relevant, with more space dedicated to sponsored content and Google's own products, and sometimes find AI summaries unreliable. This focus on revenue from advertising is a significant cause for these changes.’

And today (while using the browser Opera with the VPN activated), Google provided the following answer:
‘Many users feel Google Search has declined due to excessive ads, overwhelming AI-generated content (like AI Overviews), and lower-quality SEO spam, pushing down relevant organic results, leading some to explore alternatives like DuckDuckGo or Perplexity AI for better discovery. Issues include sponsored results mimicking organic ones and a perceived shift from finding information to promoting products or Google's own services, making traditional, helpful content harder to find, especially for product searches.’
  

Here are the articles Sean Morrow pulls from Google’s search engine in the clip:

Google search engine sucks now 
Y’all know what I’m talking about. Search engine is an absolute joke. This company has lost its way. Check in 5 years from now, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/10t4xq6/google_search_engine_sucks_now/

Does everyone hate Google now?
Google hate is no longer reserved for conservatives.
Nate Anderson – 6 août 2024 17:42
https://arstechnica.com/culture/2024/08/in-a-divided-america-one-thing-now-unites-hating-google/

This is Why Google Search is Dying* and How to Search Instead
8 août 2025
https://seo2.onreact.com/google-search-is-bad

It's not just you, Google Search really has gotten worse
A new study by German researchers found that Google Search is plagued with SEO spam.
 By Meera Navlakha
 on January 18, 2024
https://mashable.com/article/google-search-low-quality-research

Why Google search results have 'gotten worse'
Search engines are 'flooded' with 'garbage' content, say experts
New research found Google cannot differentiate good content from mediocre content, which leaves it open to manipulation
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
published January 19, 2024
https://theweek.com/tech/why-google-search-results-have-gotten-worse
https://archive.ph/M83sh

The Tragedy of Google Search
With a landmark antitrust trial underway, a giant of the modern web is buckling under its own weight.
By Charlie Warzel
September 22, 2023, 7 AM ET
https://archive.ph/Qn0kD
https://archive.ph/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/google-search-size-usefulness-decline/675409/
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/google-search-size-usefulness-decline/675409/

Title	Publication date	URL	Key excerpt agreeing with decline
Google Search Problems in 2025: Is Google Still Relevant?	September 15, 2025	https://www.toolify.ai/ai-news/google-search-problems-in-2025-is-google-still-relevant-3779113	"In 2025, is Google search still the king? Many users are questioning its relevance, citing issues ranging from misleading information to the overwhelming presence of AI-generated spam. The organic, user-focused search experience that once defined Google seems to be fading, replaced by an algorithm that prioritizes profit over people."
The fall of Google search - Why Google is so poor in 2025	February 4, 2025	https://ikius.com/blog/the-fall-of-google	"Google search has evidently become worse... filled with low-quality content, AI-generated junk, and ads... A declining user experience: Google Search is not as simple as it used to be... It could simply be that Google is no longer focused on delivering the best search experience as they may prioritize profits over usability."
Survey: 42% of people say Google Search is becoming less useful	February 26, 2025	https://searchengineland.com/google-search-less-useful-survey-452700	"42% said Google and search engines are becoming less useful... Google continues to lose ground among younger generations, with 61% of Gen Z and 53% of Millennials using AI tools instead... We continue to see early signs that Google search may be starting to slip."
Google Search Feels Worse in 2025: The Real Reason	September 22, 2025	https://medium.com/@yashbatra11111/google-search-feels-worse-in-2025-the-real-reason-83999eae8109	"If you’ve been using Google Search lately, you’ve probably felt it: results that used to feel sharp now feel cluttered, shallow, or just… off... Google Search feels worse in 2025 because of a fundamental tension between its business model, the evolution of the web, and our expectations."
Google vs AI search: is Google’s dominance fading?	December 9, 2025	https://www.contentgrip.com/google-search-market-share-decline/	"So is Google losing dominance in search? The answer is: Yes... Google’s global search share has dipped below 90% in most of 2025... That’s a milestone the company hasn’t hit since 2015—and it signals that cracks are forming in Google’s long-held dominance."