Google is binning links from search results in favour of ‘conversational’ AI answers, if you were wondering whether the internet could get worse
Google search has been answering our questions with varying degrees of accuracy since 1998, and it has been so successful that ‘google’ is now a verb meaning ‘to look stuff up on the internet’. That success has been in no small part thanks to the simplicity of the process.
Ask a question.
Google comes back with a bunch of links that can – at least theoretically – answer it.
In a move closely related to Elon Musk changing Twitter’s name to X and getting rid of the bird logo, the word ‘tweet’, and the concept of blocking actual Fascists, Google has announced a massive change to that process.
Google is transforming Search from a list of links into an AI-powered experience filled with conversational answers, autonomous agents, and interactive interfaces — a shift that could further reduce traffic to publishers across the web.
— TechCrunch (@techcrunch.com) 19 May 2026 at 18:50
RIP, Google search. Where’s Jeeves when you need him?
This is what Bluesky thought of it all.
1.
so you cant google things on google anymore?
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew.bsky.social) 19 May 2026 at 20:41
2.
Right. Goodbye Google.
— George Monbiot (@georgemonbiot.bsky.social) 19 May 2026 at 20:14
3.
terrible. 20 years ago, the internet was full of hobbyist blogs and forums. over time, these have been replaced by paywalled substacks and private discord channels, each a walled garden. google's decision to prioritize AI just makes it less likely people will create free, public info
— derek guy (@dieworkwear.bsky.social) 20 May 2026 at 05:47
4.
finding it hard to put into words just quite upsetting I find the idea of Google getting rid of the "ten blue links" format of search entirely, genuinely feels like your landlord announcing he's removing your kitchen and replacing it with a bouncy castle, I need my kitchen, let me keep my kitchen
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com) 20 May 2026 at 08:57
5.
they're replacing libraries with a guy who just says shit
— jenny tightpants (@jtp.bsky.social) 20 May 2026 at 05:00
6.
Maybe I'm just old and stupid but I just want a thingie that returns a list of results containing the specific arrangement of letters I'm looking for, preferably ordered using some kind of basic, quick assessment of statistical frequency weighted against publication time.
— ice.cream.assassin (@icassassin.bsky.social) 19 May 2026 at 19:53
7.
the google graveyard is about to get its most insane entry: Google Search
— Sarah (@vyletbunni.com) 19 May 2026 at 23:36
8.
Google unveils an even worse Search
aftermath.site/google-search-…— Aftermath (@aftermath.site) 19 May 2026 at 21:17
9.
We really didn't know how good we had it.
— itsmsrobyn.bsky.social (@itsmsrobyn.bsky.social) 19 May 2026 at 20:20
10.
In related news, Google bought Coca-Cola and replaced all the sugar in it with human shit.
— Cezary Jan Strusiewicz (@ostrichson.bsky.social) 20 May 2026 at 08:48