Open source network management search result in Google 2001 vs Google 2008 vs Google 2022

Google have released a fully searchable version of their first available index from 2001 to celebrate their 10th birthday. I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast a search for “open source network management” using the 2001 index and the 2008 index.

I have now added the search results for the October 2022 index.

The first thing that springs out are all of the adverts in the 2008 version. My guestimate is that you’re going to be bidding well north of $5 per click for the top spot on there. In a sense, the search results were much more competitive in 2008 than in 2022. There are 9 adverts in 2008 and only 4 in 2022.

The 2022 results are remarkable in the sense that the above the fold first page is pretty much taken up by adverts. There is only the top result visible in full. First prize in 2022 goes to Zabbix.

The adverts from 2022 also don’t match the search. None of the adverts are for open source network management tools. Some may have free versions of their tools but that doesn’t make them open source. One of the adverts has absolutely nothing to do with open source or network management.

The second thing that pops out is the number of results: 1,330,000 vs 11,900,000 vs 1,050,000,000 results. That’s a heck of a big growth! Getting on for ten times more pages matching the search between 2001 and 2008.

The search results themselves seem better in 2008 than way back in 2001. The search results in 2022 are really poor. In the sense that the search does actually provide results to things that are open source network management tools with the inevitable wikipedia article thrown in for good measure.

Things sure are more competitive now. 😉

Update 2022-10-12: adds search results from October 2022 to the comparison.