Google no longer even pretends to offer millions of search results

Back in 2022, I documented how, though Google will tell you it has millions of results for your search string, it never actually lets you see more than 500.

If you try using Google now, you’ll find it still never gives you more than 500 results, but at least they’ve stopped lying about it. All fraudulent claims to have millions of results have quietly been removed.

So, uh, good job? Google: now marginally less dishonest.

Anyway, the functionality remains the same. The exact figures will vary depending on what you search for, but on average Google delivers 0.0001% search results and 99.9999% censorship. You think those numbers are exaggerated, but they’re not.

The Internet is no longer meaningfully searchable. It’s time to start relying more on serendipity and word of mouth.