Google now offers “Web” search — and an AI opt-out button

This is no joke: Google will now allow you to perform a search “on the web.” It’s now rolling out “web” searches, and in my early tests on desktop, it looks like it could be an incredibly popular change to Google’s search engine.

The optional setting filters out almost all the other pieces of content that Google crams into the search results page, leaving you with links and text — and Google emphasizes that the edge It will ban an overview of the company’s new AI as well.

“Isn’t every search a web search? What is a Google search if not the web?” you might rightfully ask.

But independent sites love House Fresh And Retro Dodo He pointed out How their business became “buried deep beneath sponsored posts, Quora tips from 2016, top lists from big media sites, and no fewer than 64 Google Shopping product listings,” she says. House Fresh Managing Editor Giselle Navarro.

Now, with one click, a bunch of these blockers seem to disappear.

Search for “Best Home Gaming Cabinets”, one of Retro DodoOur bread-and-butter queries, and they’re no longer buried — they appear on page 1. (Drag our image slider to see the difference.)

House Fresh It still doesn’t get front-page billing for “best budget air purifiers” — but it’s a higher level, and you’re no longer bombarded by a dizzying number of Google Shopping results as you scroll:

If you searched for Wyze cameras, you’ll get them now A hint about their lax security practices On page 2 instead of page 3:

I’m not sure it’s an optimization for every search, partly because of Google’s modules Can It’s useful, in part because the company doesn’t give up self-promotion just because you hit the “Web” button. Here, you can see that Google is still giving itself top billing for Google AR Glasses in both cases, and its Top Stories box is arguably a useful addition:

Which of these findings help you better identify Maui wildfires? I’m not really sure:

And when you ask Google who wrote the Lord of the RingsIs there any reason you wouldn’t want to have the entire knowledge graph of Google at your disposal?

Admittedly, this is an answer that Google is unlikely to get wrong.

As far as I can tell, to request Google search results seem to be the same regardless of whether you chose “Web” or “All.” It doesn’t block links to YouTube videos, Reddit posts, or SEO mills… and I still see (smaller!) sponsored ads from Amazon, Verkada, and Wyze pushing my search results to the bottom:

“Web” is just a filter that removes Google’s knowledge panels, featured snippets and shopping modules — and Google’s new AI overviews, too, Google spokesman Ned Adriance confirms to the edge. “AI-based overviews are a feature in search, just like an information card or featured snippet, so they won’t appear when someone uses a web filter to perform a search.

It doesn’t magically solve some of the problems Google has. But it’s a giant unsubscribe button for people aggravated by some of the company’s seemingly self-serving moves, and a way to preserve the spirit of the Blue Ten Links even as Google’s AI efforts try to leave it behind.

Danny Sullivan, Public Communications Officer at Google Search, He says he was asking for something like that For years:

As a next step, I’d like to see Google promote the button to make it more visible. For now, the company warns that it may not always appear in the primary carousel on your desktop at all — You may need to click More first Then select “Web”.

Hopefully all of this will work well on mobile too; I don’t see it on my phone yet.