Techy people here on HN can easily circumvent Google Search result issues, the real harm is for the average user.
Ways to deal with terrible Google Search results:
1. For complex computer problems, Google search is still has the biggest index, and less affected by SEO spam.
2. When using Google as substitute for a websites builting engine, google dorks get the job done.
3. Modern browsers allow you to switch enginees on the fly from the address bar (eg. Brave Browser has :w which instantly switches to Wikipedia) and there are similar keywords for opening bookmark.
4. If I know where I want to go, I go there directly using those shortcuts.
5. When looking for inspiration or quality stuff to read I search hn.algolia.com, use Brave Search Goggles or any other "custom" browser enginees that give results for specific topic.
6. Ask ChatGPT or some other Chatbot. (Results differ, but it works sometimes)
7. I have collected by own sites and bookmarks over time.
The only thing I don't know how to search are Product Reviews.
I think "general" search enginees are in decline, and (techy people) are gking back to pretty much manual indexing.