system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is Google just so dominant?

Why is it *_the_* search engine? How did it achieve that?
gpt
Another key but historically overlooked thing about Google search was that the search page was blank with just a search box.

Why was this important?
Back in the day all search engines has masses of ads and articles on their search page.

 This was a particular problem in the days of dial up. People had to wait tens of seconds for a search page to load up all the shit you weren't interested in, before you could enter your search query.

By having an almost blank search page, Google became synonymous with easy accessibility and a clean search experience.

Together with better search algorithms, this clean approach was a winner.