Picking up the ball from Andrew Gelman's recent post on the declining quality of Google searches (which itself built on this one from Cory Doctorow), I've started to see an especially weird result when I do Google searches.
I'll see a result for an article that looks like it might be what I'm looking for. It comes from a reputable publication and there's no little message telling me that it does not include one of my search terms.
[Okay, quick digression. Why does Google not only include results that leave out search terms, but includes them on the first page? As far as I can recall, every single time I am asked do I want result with the terms I typed in, I always say yes. What kind of stupid question is that?]
I get the article, I read through it, and it has no mention whatsoever of one or more of my search terms. Control F shows nothing even related to what I'm looking for. Is the term there but hidden? There once but gone now (such as in a deleted comment)? Only there in Google's imagination?
Most of Doctorow's examples of enshittification* can be traced back greed and bad actors, but this seems to be something else, perhaps just a sign of general decay. That's not particularly reassuring given how much we rely on Google.
* If you're new to the topic, here's an excellent interview with Doctorow on the subject.
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