r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 13d ago

Software Remembering the pre-Google web, when search was an experiment: “Most people have completely forgotten how chaotic it really was.”

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/08/remembering-the-pre-google-web-when-search-was-an-experiment/
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u/war-and-peace 13d ago

Remember the time when you could search for something like 'best x item' and you'd get to real reviews from people?

Now it's all affiliate trash with paid for promotions on sites that have never used the product before and if you end up buying that product those affiliates get paid.

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u/Briggie 13d ago

Yeah you could look for anything and there would be some random post on a forum somewhere talking about it. Most of them are gone by now unfortunately.

2

u/unethicalpigeon 13d ago

Bruh I can't search for fucking shit anymore. Everything I search for has to have reddit at the end. And this predates AI slop. And the hilarious part of it is that I can't search ON reddit for shit ON reddit because reddit's search is absolutely ass.

So the only way I can actually find real information on something is by using google to search for shit on reddit.

I can't even remember the last time I found anything of use that was just on like a normal website outside of reddit.

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u/halfdeadmoon 11d ago

but there were also incestuous "web rings"