Last night, I was casually wondering (as you do) which songs from Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada’s seminal debut album, Music Has the Right to Children, use audio samples from Sesame Street? It’s the sort of idle fact-checking that humans in the 21st century are blessed to indulge in, and so (as you do), I whipped out my smartphone to Google it.

Thirty seconds later, I got so annoyed, I downloaded the Wikipedia app instead.

The problem I faced is not a new one. Many people have noted the slow degradation of Google’s search in recent years, partly a result of macro changes to the web’s structure and partly Google’s own fault for relentlessly privileging its own ads and services. And in this particular case, when I searched for...

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