Mar 23 2024 A brief history of why Google search "died"

The link is here.

A nice recap from ChatGPT:

This article tells the story of how Google Search faced a crisis in 2019 and the subsequent changes that led to its decline. It begins with Ben Gomes, the head of search at Google, facing pressure due to declining revenue. This pressure came from Jerry Dischler and Shiv Venkataraman, executives in Google's advertising and engineering departments, respectively, who raised concerns about search revenue falling short of expectations.

The article discusses the internal jargon used at Google, such as "code yellow," which signifies a crisis situation requiring immediate attention. Gomes and his team faced mounting pressure to increase search query growth and revenue. However, there were conflicts between the search and advertising teams regarding priorities and strategies.

Emails released as part of an antitrust case against Google revealed tensions between different departments and their approaches to boosting revenue. Gomes expressed concerns about prioritizing growth over user experience and highlighted the dangers of manipulating search results to increase engagement artificially.

Despite these concerns, Google rolled out updates to its search algorithms, which some critics believed prioritized revenue over search quality. Additionally, changes to the presentation of ads on Google's search results pages raised concerns about transparency and user experience.

The article criticizes the appointment of Prabhakar Raghavan as the head of Google Search, suggesting that his previous tenure at Yahoo was marked by declining market share and strategic missteps. It portrays Raghavan as a symbol of managerialism and profit-driven decision-making in the tech industry, contrasting him with Ben Gomes, who is depicted as a dedicated technologist committed to user-centric principles.

The author argues that the rise of managerialism and profit-driven decision-making has led to a decline in innovation and product quality in the tech industry. They suggest that figures like Raghavan prioritize short-term financial gains over long-term sustainability and user satisfaction.

In conclusion, the article paints a bleak picture of Google Search's trajectory under Raghavan's leadership, highlighting the tension between profit motives and user needs in the tech industry. It calls for a reevaluation of managerial practices and a return to principles of innovation and user-centric design.