I’m late to the party and I don’t understand several things I read in the comments, so I need to ask for clarification.

What is Google’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? I looked it up, but the websites StartPage was giving me were not useful (probably ads or spam sites). Is finding these ads/spam sites the problem?

How is this a search engine’s fault? I mean, if the internet is now made by walled gardens and spam sites, search engines have trouble finding something really relevant, but how is it their fault?

I should add I navigate logged out on Firefox with the Ublock Origin and NoScript extensions (among others) so I at least don’t see Google’s ads.

I agree there are some searches where it’s next to impossible to find informed sites from spam ones: just a week ago I was looking for “Best Nintendo Switch games released in 2023” and I got lots of dubious blogs, and even when I got hits from IGN, GameSpot or PcMag sites, I realized I don’t know if any of these last sites are genuine or bought out (and checked the Wikipedia for more wisdom about their veracity), but how is it the search engine’s fault to not navigate through seas of crap?

When I search for academic things, Google or StartPage still seem to give me useful answers.

I have been wary about searches related to reviews about anything, but it just seemed to me the internet is a worse place now in general (because of walled gardens and spam)