The fall of Google Search

The general consensus in SEO - Search Engine Optimization - circles is that Google Search is broken and Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has been a disgrace for the company. A couple of days ago, journalist Edward Zitron poured gasoline to the fire with an article named "The Man Who Killed Google Search". 

There he speaks of the fall of Ben Gomes,

After nearly 20 years of building Google Search, Gomes would be relegated to SVP of Education at Google. Gomes, who was a critical part of the original team that made Google Search work, who has been credited with establishing the culture of the world’s largest and most important search engine, was chased out by a growth-hungry managerial types led by Prabhakar Raghavan, a management consultant wearing an engineer costume. 

the raise of Prabhakar Raghavan,

It’s very, very difficult to find much on Raghavan’s history — it took me hours of digging through Google results to find the three or four articles that went into any depth about him — but from what I’ve gleaned, his expertise lies primarily in “failing up,” ascending through the ranks of technology on the momentum from the explosions he caused. 

and the status of Google Search under the new boss.

Since Prabhakar took the reins in 2020, Google Search has dramatically declined, with the numerous “core” search updates allegedly made to improve the quality of results having an adverse effect, increasing the prevalence of spammy, search engine optimized content.  

Concluding that, 

Raghavan is a hall-of-fame rot economist, and one of the many managerial types that have caused immeasurable damage to the Internet in the name of growth and “shareholder value." 

This is a familiar story. The short answer is found in the 25th best movie quote of all times: "show me the money". 

Is this the time to trade Google Search for Bing?

Update: New article that summarizes recent statements from Prabhakar Raghavan: Head of Google Search demands urgency as growth slows.

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