Resurfaced Google ad from 1999 has aged disgracefully

Much has changed since the late 1990s, including the extensive influence the internet has today.

Nowadays it can feel tricky to find the website or resource you're looking for on search engines like Google where there are sponsored ads at the top of the results page.

But it never used to be this way... at least according to a Google advertisement from 1999 which informs readers what the tool is all about.

The advert in a tech magazine issue described Google as "a pure search engine" and added that this means there is "no weather, no news feed, no links to sponsors, no ads, no distractions, no portal litter"

Recently, this 25-year-old advert appeared on Reddit's Damnthatsinteresting forum and gained a lot of reaction from people who recall how much easier it was to navigate the search results back in the day.

Along with sponsor posts, websites tend to try and enhance their search engine optimisation to improve their result ranking.

In the comments section, people reminisced about using Google back in the 1990s and commented how the search engine has since "aged like milk."

One person said: "No ads? No sponsored links? How marvelous. I'll have to try this newfangled thing."

"That sounds fabulous I hope they never change...well s***," another person wrote.

A third person added: "Oh the early days of Google, so clean and great results. People were actually excited to use it."

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain," a fourth person commented.

Someone else added: "Aged like milk."

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