Ever since my friend Guillaume made me discover Google in the late 1990s, I never looked back. I've been using Google Search almost exclusively for a ¼-century, and I became a Gmail user even before its general availability. Google's Don't be evil ethics and work culture challenged my conception of what a job looks like and we considered working together in the late 2000s. I never cared much about privacy concerns, and as a citizen and software developer, Google has had a significant positive impact on my life, mostly through its services―Google Search, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps and Hangouts―and its numerous contributions to free software.
That hasn't stopped me from criticizing Google at times. When the Google Maps issue which angers me most was decried last year, a Slashdot user offered an interesting explanation, but which seemed exaggerated.
Now, my read of Edward Zitron's eye-opening The Man Who Killed Google Search―which casts light on how Google Search has been [mis]managed under Prabhakar Raghavan and other managers who have come to replace the innovators once in charge―makes the proposed explanation for that Google Maps issue almost unremarkable. Indeed, Google Search still has much room for improvement, and I was recently frustrated to notice it going backwards. The regression may have been too slow for me to realize, but in retrospect, it does seem like Google Search has become less satisfying.
This decay matches very well what I've been hearing about changes in Google's culture, which this article claiming it's become ‘unrecognizable’ summarizes pretty well. Of course, Google has to adapt to a more difficult geopolitical environment, and moving away from its former transparency may be unavoidable. But even from what I see as an outside collaborator, it feels like Google's management is indeed regressing. I'm not done yet realizing just how disastrous this year's Chromium issue tracking move from Monorail to the Google Issue Tracker was (and remains, even months after some of the serious regressions were reported), and Google visibly offers no way to export contents for those who would like to go back.
Oh, and what a disappointment it was to see Google's reaction to my latest report of a longstanding issue in Chromium. After 10 comments from Google employees, it seems there is no progress besides an employee having confirmed that it's "reproducible" (insofar as a mere request for enhancement can be reproduced). Would workers with the necessary skills have required 4 screencasts and that much noise to get there?
Ah, and let's not even get into Google Talk/Hangouts/Chat…😒
If the above truly represents what's happening at Google, its story is an appalling example of how inept corporations are at delivering this kind of technology. It seems that just like Boeing, Alphabet has lost its way. A rot economy wins in the context of a rotten society. And when you look at how our society treats successful innovators, you understand much better why such people make it to the top. Why would we make the effort of researching and managing, and hiring competent and reliable people, if―in the end―the government is to steal any extra profit?
I don't feel Google Search has gone back to Altavista's level, but I wonder if I can find a better search engine before that happens.