Search engines are becoming increasingly rigged systems, from the tactics of SEOs trying to climb the results to big spenders flashing cash to nab the most visible spots.
And despite being a massive hypocrite, ‘working the system’ myself through content marketing in my day job, I frequently find myself searching for [keyword + reddit] to get unbiased and unincentivised opinions in my downtime.
Furthermore, it seems that most of the top results chosen by search engines are faceless entities or brands with zero personality, producing guide after affiliate-powered guide. Which is why I was interested to come across Marginalia, a new option that tries to surface personal blogs and websites for entered queries.
The result? I [kind of] like it.
It feels a bit like browsing the web back in the good old days, more akin to stumbling around drunkenly in the dark before uncovering a little gem in the rough. In this way, the experience feels much more serendipitous, revealing some splendid thinkers and tinkerers that don’t play the normal SEO game.
It’s certainly not a functional experience when you really need a particular resource, but rather a great option when you want to dive down some random rabbit holes for pre-commercial online nostalgia.