This is not a joke: Google will now let you perform a web search. Its rolling out web searches now, and in my early tests on desktop, its looking like it could be an incredibly popular change to Googles search engine.

The optional setting filters out almost all the other blocks of content that Google crams into a search results page, leaving you with links and text and Google confirms to The Verge that it will block the companys new AI Overviews as well.

Isnt every search a web search? What is Google Search if not the web? you might rightfully ask.

But independent websites like HouseFresh and Retro Dodo have pointed out how their businesses have gotten buried deep beneath sponsored posts, Quora advice from 2016, best-of lists from big media sites, and no less than 64 Google Shopping product listings, in the words of HouseFresh managing editor Gisele Navarro.

Now, with one click, a bunch of those blockers seemingly disappear.

Search for best home arcade cabinets, one of Retro Dodos bread-and-butter queries, and its no longer buried it appears on page 1. (Drag our image slider to see the difference.)

HouseFresh still doesnt get page 1 billing for best budget air purifiers but its higher up, and youre no longer assaulted by an eye-popping number of Google Shopping results as you scroll:

If you search for Wyze cameras, youll now get a hint about their lax security practices on page 2 instead of page 3:

Im not sure its an improvement for every search, partly because Googles modules can be useful, and partly because the company isnt giving up on self-promotion just because you press the web button. Here, you can see Google still gives itself top billing for Google AR glasses either way, and its Top stories box is arguably a helpful addition:

Which of these results helps you better learn about the Maui wildfires? Im genuinely not sure:

And when you ask Google who wrote The Lord of the Rings, is there any reason you wouldnt want Googles full knowledge graph at your disposal?

Admittedly, its an answer that Google isnt likely to get wrong.

As far as I can tell, the order of Googles search results seem to be the same regardless of whether you pick web or all. It doesnt block links to YouTube videos or Reddit posts or SEO factories... and I still saw (smaller!) sponsored ads from Amazon and Verkada and Wyze push down my search results:

Web is just a filter that removes Googles knowledge panels and featured snippets and Shopping modules and Googles new AI Overviews as well, Google spokesperson Ned Adriance confirms to The Verge. AI Overviews are a feature in Search, just like a knowledge panel or a featured snippet, so they will not appear when someone uses the web filter for a search.

It doesnt magically fix some of the issues facing Googles search engine. But it is a giant opt-out button for people whove been aggravated by some of the companys seemingly self-serving moves, and a way to preserve the spirit of the 10 blue links even as Googles AI efforts try to leave them behind.

Danny Sullivan, Googles Public Liaison for Search, says hes been asking for something like this for years:

As a next step, Id like to see Google promote the button to make it more visible. Right now, the company warns that it may not always appear in the primary carousel on desktop at all you may need to click More first and then select Web.

Heres hoping this all works well on mobile, too; Im not seeing it on my phone yet.

Read more:

Google now offers 'web' search and an AI opt-out button - The Verge