THE SITE-SEARCH PARADOX: WHY THE BIG BOX ALWAYS WINS

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Internal website search often fails because it requires users to guess exact keywords rather than understanding search intent, leading them to abandon the site for Google searches. This "Site-Search Paradox" occurs when users prefer using Google with "site:" commands to find content on local websites rather than using the site's own search function. Google succeeds not just through raw computing power, but by understanding context and user intent rather than demanding exact keyword matches.