Search engine results are truly terrible

A few months ago, I had the displeasure of trying to use the modern web without an ad-blocker. Even though it's is ubiquitous among computer nerds, ad blocking is quite rare even in other technical fields. This got me wondering how search engines perform without all the tricks people do to get better results. As a test, I wrote a few queries for... common software: ad blocker ... obscure, but easy to find information: What is the lowest K-alpha emission energy of Molybdenum? ... and few normal(-ish) questions: What photodiode circuit should I use? How do airplane wings work? Why are brushed motors most efficient at high speeds? Asking a search engine questions is almost never the best way to find good information, but it's what I've seen a lot of people do. To replicate the experience of a normie/victim I made sure to include the AI summary, sponsored results and info boxes: Ad blockerMolybdenumPhotodiodeWingsMotors GoogleBadOkCrapOkCrap BingBadOkCrapOkCrap KagiCrapOkBadOkCrap…