Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”? SOURCES: Marissa Mayer , co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! and vice president at Google. Ryan McDevitt ; professor of economics at Duke University. Tim Hwang , media researcher and author; former Google employee. Elizabeth Reid , vice president of Search at Google. Aravind Srinivas , C.E.O. and co-founder of Perplexity. Jeremy Stoppelman , C.E.O. and co-founder of Yelp. RESOURCES: “ A Fraudster Who Just Can’t Seem to Stop … Selling Eyeglasses ,” by David Segal ( The New York Times, 2022). Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet , by Tim Hwang (2020). “ Complaint: U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC ,” by the U.S. Department of Justice (2020). “ Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too ,” by David Segal ( The New York Times, 2016). “ ‘A’ Business by Any Other Name: Firm Name Choice as a Signal of Firm Quality ,” by Ryan C. McDevitt ( Journal of Political Economy, 2014). In the Plex: How Google Thi…