There is (browser?) malware out there that hijacks the google search results to show junk instead of what you are actually looking for. At one point I got bitten by this, it only sometimes replaced the results so it was a bit subtle and took me a while to pin down.
I wonder how many people on HN are infected by such malware and don't realize it? A lot of the complaints about search results are clearly not this, but when someone complains of outright spam for reasonable queries, I do wonder...
Weird, last week when I googled it, all I got was liscicles about "the best order to read WoT" and other blogspam. Just googled it now and it seems fine.
I took a series of screenshots but they all seem fine to me?
Wikipedia, Goodreads, Fandom.com and MacMillan Publishing; these all seem to be reasonable results. I could share the whole page if I could find a place to upload my screenshots (RIP imgur)
> Google's been 98% spam for well over a year now.
I find this hard to believe. How do you even measure for this?
I'd love to see a few more examples of searches you are making that show spam, because the example you gave provided me with the appropriate results. I almost suspect you are either being disingenuous or just have some malware on your computer.
"This search engine I've gone out of my way to not track my search, viewing or other habits and usage is showing me irrelevant ads! Fucking trash!"
They'll complain at the thought of paying for YT premium ("the internet should be free bro! Except my new SaaS calendar app, of course"), pirate Factorio, pay for kagi. A real eclectic bunch.
I see this all the time these days and always wonder how many people making these comments have their own monetized apps, or have done any work on monetization, etc.
Hah. Google's been 98% spam for well over a year now.
Try googling "What is the fifth book in the wheel of time series" and see what you get? All spam.