It sounds like what the picture is making fun of, already materialized in this kagi search engine. Paying for a search just is a about face from what the Internet was designed to be. You could argue everything is this way, but I’d then argue consumers are bigger pushovers now.
I installed mine during COVID lockdowns - wife got one as a gift for baby shower and we never used it but 2 years later I broke it out during the dark times for toilet paper and it saved our ass, literally. Definitely the best improvement ever, yet some people do feel weird about them, like middle schooler homophobia or some shit