"Normal" people don't start with Google, not any more. They start with Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, Discord, Substack etc. That's exactly the problem, the world-wide web has devolved back into a collection of walled gardens like things were in the BBS era, except now the boards are all run by a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires instead of random nerds in your hometown.
You have just described how "innovation" is often just a power shift, often one that does not benefit the user. Old is new again, but in different hands; the right hands, of course.
