the tipping point came when boolean searches no longer worked. from that point on search results on Google have been what they want you to receive, not what you ask for. (it could also be argued that the real end of Google came when the long tail disappeared from results — that is where the real gold could be found, if one was patient, especially when it came to exact searches — & giving useful results could not be tolerated, whether due to restricting access to certain sites or info, or because more ads needed to be put in front of the eyes of users.)
glenstein|6 months ago
Wholeheartedly agree. Millionshort was based on this idea, of effectively skipping the "first 10k" sites that most commonly come up in results, skipping to the good stuff. But they've implemented forced logins and made other design choices I haven't loved.