Why Google Search Results Look Different in 2026 Than 5 Years Ago

If Google feels different than it did five years ago, it is. The results page has gained AI answers, more boxes and more forum results, and plain blue links now start lower on the page.

The biggest changes since 2021

• AI Overviews (2024): AI-written summaries above the results for many searches, rolled out to everyone in the US in May 2024 and then to many more countries.
• AI Mode (2025): a separate, chat-style search tab where you can ask follow-up questions.
• Forums and Reddit: Google began showing much more forum content, including a "Discussions and forums" section, as people added "reddit" to their searches to find real experiences.
• Site names and icons: each result now shows the site's name and favicon above the title.
• Ad labels: ads are marked "Sponsored" and are often grouped at the top and bottom of the page, looking much like regular results.
• More boxes: People Also Ask, things to know, shopping carousels, videos and "people also search for" fill more of the page.
• Cache links gone: Google removed the "cached" view of pages in 2024.

Why Google changed

• Competition from AI chatbots pushed Google to answer questions directly.
• People wanted firsthand experiences, which pushed forums and video up.
• Ranking updates aimed at "helpful content" changed which websites appear, cutting some sites that had ranked for years.

What it means for you

• The first thing you see may be a summary, an ad or a box, not the best source. Scroll to the actual results for anything important.
• AI summaries can be wrong. See how AI Overviews get answers wrong.
• Forum answers are personal experiences, useful but not always accurate.

Getting a cleaner results page

• The Web filter: under the search box, choose More → Web for plain links. See how to search without AI answers.
• Hide sections: Search Cleaner hides the AI Overview, AI Mode tab, People Also Ask, forum sections, sponsored results and other parts you choose, while keeping Google.
• Search operators: quotes for exact phrases, site: for one website, and -word to exclude terms still work.

Google will keep experimenting, so expect more changes. For a broader look, see is Google search getting worse?