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Google’s Zelda Easter egg recreates a 1998-style Search page
Developing story first seen 3 hours ago
New coverage adds a way to get a more traditional Google Search experience: selecting the Web tab shows relevant webpages without AI Overview material, and browser settings can make that view the default. The advice appears alongside Google’s Ocarina of Time Easter egg, which uses a nostalgic 1998-style results page to mark the game’s remake.
Searching for “Zelda” or “Ocarina of Time” brings up an animated Master Sword; clicking or tapping it briefly shows a Triforce before revealing blue links, short excerpts and an “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. The effect seems limited to searches about the game. The article argues that the retro design recalls a simpler Search experience, contrasting it with today’s ads and AI features, and notes that Google recently said AI Mode is affecting traditional Search ad revenue.
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In short
- Google’s Web tab can show relevant webpages without AI Overviews.
- The Zelda Easter egg recreates Search results from 1998.
- The retro page appears only for searches related to the game.
How this story developed
- 1 hour ago The latest coverage adds Google’s Web tab as a way to see webpage-focused results without AI Overviews, with browser settings able to make it the default, and frames the retro Easter egg as a reminder of Search’s shift towards ads and AI features.
- 1 hour ago Google marked the release of Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time remake with a Search Easter egg: searches for “Zelda” or “Ocarina of Time” reveal an animated Master Sword that briefly gives way to a Triforce before opening a 1998-style results page, apparently only for game-related searches.
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The case for
The Easter egg is a playful tribute to a landmark game and to an earlier, simpler style of web search. Its uncluttered links and short excerpts may remind users that finding useful pages can feel more direct, while the Web tab gives people a way to seek that kind of result today.
The case against
The retro display is a limited nostalgia feature tied to searches about one game, so it does not establish that older Search was better for users generally. Modern Search includes tools such as ads and AI Overviews that can help people discover information or get quick summaries, and a pared-back 1998-style page may omit features many users now value.
Explained simply
The Legend of Zelda is a long-running series of video games made by Nintendo. Ocarina of Time, first released in 1998, is one of its best-known games; players guide the hero Link on a quest involving a magical instrument called an ocarina.
Google Search is the online service people use to find information on the web. Its results page has changed over time, with features such as advertising and AI-generated summaries alongside links to websites. These changes matter to publishers and advertisers because they affect how people find and visit their sites.
Coverage · 2 sources
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Engadget as “Google’s Ocarina of Time Easter egg is a link to a past when Search wasn’t horrible”.