# Google Search 315 Hacker News commenters recommended Google Search and 1039 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 20 years (25 owners). **Verdict:** Still praised for unmatched coverage, fast indexing and good local results compared with alternatives, but many feel quality has declined under ads, SEO junk and pushy AI features. ## Why people recommend it - Better coverage than alternatives (5 comments): "If for the past ~20 years nobody has come up with something clearly better, then I would say that speaks to how outstanding the product that are being copied are to this day." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48482702)) "Google Search was head & shoulders better than the alternatives back when Google was developing into the behemoth it is today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47172049)) "Google was clearly superior fo a long time. They got close to 90% before enshitification started in earnest." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47166445)) - Fast, relevant results (4 comments): "Google's indexing is insanely quick too, I'll post a question on Reddit and I search Google and the reddit thread is there same day/minutes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47186761)) "Google search was an absolute revelation. You could type in a search term and the first hit would usually be what you wanted." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46136552)) "When Google came along I have very vivid memory of it providing not only better search results but also faster loads times" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48404289)) - Understands search intent (2 comments): "Google has spent an immense amount of time and effort identifying the underlying intent behind all kinds of different searches" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181458)) "Google works like an automatic black-box which tries to deduce your intention from 4-5 words you typed in hastily." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49874968)) - Useful AI summaries (2 comments): "AI summaries work pretty well for me on Google and my overall subjective sense is the results have been getting better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46410229)) "having a LLM summary + a list of websites to deepen the search if I need, is just a superior user experience IMO" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46093629)) ## What people warn about - Result quality has declined (8 comments): "Google search was also famously just a UI, a search box that lets you get in and out very quickly (it is all garbage content now)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206932)) "Google until 2019 or so did, even as SEO and ad considerations nibbled at it for years. Eventually it broke though so here we are" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966478)) "Where Google used to be magical and other search engines quickly improved, it all kind of turned into shit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422581)) - Intrusive AI mode and summaries (5 comments): "I've noticed recently getting frustrated because I'm looking for a search list but the UI throws me into AI mode first" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48197587)) "the AI summary and the general degradation in the quality of search results from Google really hinder me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48309167)) "In each case some AI functionality has been placed prominently either somewhere that you accidentally press it or in place of something that previously worked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48570172)) - Ads and money-driven results (3 comments): "I wish it wasn't Google that currently has the best free product, because their well-oiled ad machine is going to inevitably turn the crank" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48310019)) "From my point of view Google Search is terrible, too. Is hard to find relevant results, you mostly get results optimized to make money, or junk." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46229445)) "The Google today has nothing to do with the original Google; it is now basically just a money grab company trying to force ads onto everyone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49390283)) - Poor UX and clutter (3 comments): "Google's UX is terrible - but a search engine (a tool that can put you right into contact with the FAQ or forum where actual experts are discussing your problem) is always going to be powerful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49075720)) "It changes the default search results to "web" rather than "All", which removes all the extraneous crap they've added over the years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48222100)) "Google search was also famously just a UI, a search box that lets you get in and out very quickly (it is all garbage content now)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206932)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Yandex Search](https://hackerapproved.com/p/yandex.md): 79 recommend - [Marginalia Search](https://hackerapproved.com/p/marginalia-search.md): 50 recommend - [Bing](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bing.md): 33 recommend - [Ecosia](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ecosia.md): 24 recommend - [AltaVista](https://hackerapproved.com/p/altavista.md): 24 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.google.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Google Search", https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-search/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).