Google Search Was Deliberately Ruined by Former Head of Ads
Recently disclosed internal emails from the Google vs US lawsuit have highlighted “the man who killed Google Search”, a phrase used in Edward Zitron’s newsletter, where’syouredat? Zitron discusses the individual blamed for undermining Google Search and describes how the search engine’s decline began.
The issues started in 2019 when Google Search was placed on “code yellow” due to falling revenue and decreased user interaction. Jerry Dischler (VP/GM of Ads) and Prabhakar Raghavan (Head of Ads) called for an increase in user traffic and more ads to boost profits. However, Ben Gomes, the then head of Search who had been with the team for 20 years, resisted these pressures to degrade Search quality for financial gain.
Gomes repeatedly voiced his concerns during this challenging period, stating he was “deeply, deeply uncomfortable” with the direction Google was pushing for Search, fearing it was becoming “too close to the money.”
Despite navigating through the turbulent times of code yellow, Raghavan pushed for further changes, unsatisfied with the user query volumes. According to Zitron, this period led to a reduction in anti-spam measures previously enhanced between 2012 and 2018, and it saw ads being made less distinguishable from organic results.
In 2020, five months later, Prabhakar Raghavan took over as the head of Search, having been a major proponent of the changes during the code yellow. Zitron criticizes Raghavan for his role in edging out Ben Gomes, labeling him a “class traitor.” He also notes Raghavan’s stint at Yahoo, where he oversaw search and advertising and witnessed a dramatic drop in market share from 30.4% to nearly zero, describing his career as marked by failures.
Zitron concludes his piece by stressing these points.
Prabhakar Raghavan is a painful example of what happens when you allow the tech industry to be run by managers and management consultants who don’t use the things that make them rich. He’s responsible for killing search, and I want you to know his name.