The Man Who Killed Google Search

Code yellow at Google is an internal term used to indicate a high-priority situation that requires immediate and focused attention. It is not a moderate crisis but rather the equivalent of DEFCON 1. The term originates from the color of a tank top worn by former VP of Engineering Wayne Rosing. When a code yellow is declared, it activates a war room-like environment where workers are pulled from their usual tasks to concentrate on resolving the issue at hand, sidelining all other projects.

The 'code yellow' for Google Search revenue in 2019 was triggered by several concerns, including:

• Search query growth being significantly behind forecast.
• The timing of revenue launches was significantly behind schedule.
• There were worries about advertiser-specific and sector weaknesses in search.

After the 'code yellow', Google's search quality changed in the following ways:

• The March 2019 core update to search, which was expected to be significant, mostly rolled back previous changes.
• Traffic increased to sites previously suppressed by Google's 'Penguin' update, which targeted spammy search results.
• A redesign in how ads were shown on the platform made ads look almost identical to regular search links, potentially affecting the user experience.

Ben Gomes was replaced as head of Google Search due to a shift in the company's priorities towards aggressive revenue growth and management practices that favored short-term gains over product quality. Despite his significant contributions to Google Search and his dedication to maintaining a user-focused product, Gomes was sidelined by a growth-hungry managerial group led by Prabhakar Raghavan, who took over as head of Google Search.

Since Prabhakar Raghavan took over as head of Google Search in 2020, the platform has experienced a decline in reliability and transparency. The 'core' search updates, which were allegedly made to improve the quality of results, have instead increased the prevalence of spammy, search engine optimized content. Raghavan's management approach has been criticized for prioritizing growth and shareholder value over the actual usefulness and integrity of the search engine.

The separation of search and ads at Google is considered important to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure that the search engine remains an unbiased and reliable source of information. It helps maintain the integrity of search results by not allowing the advertising side of the business to unduly influence or compromise the quality and relevance of the search outcomes.

Industry professionals and the article by Ed Zitron portray Prabhakar Raghavan as a 'villain' because they believe he prioritized profit over the quality of Google Search. This perspective is based on actions and decisions that allegedly led to a degradation in search quality and technological issues, all in the interest of increasing revenue for the company.