Anyway, it happens all the time. Goole assumes that I mean something and I need to quote words trying to enforce my query. Pretty much every time when the returned results don't include the words I typed is a frustration for me. It makes it very hard to fix the query because I need to study every result instead of having no results or obviously low quality results.
It's especially hard when I'm not well versed in the subject, so I need to go through the results only to realize that these results are not about the thing I'm looking for.
BTW, I do less Googling these days. I would usually search Reddit, HN and StackOverflow directly from their websites as the search results would be from the expected domain and not too smart but just enough smart to correct typos etc. Also the filters work better.
Imagine you're talking to your friend, and you say the exact same thing you tell Google: "North Korea DHL". They're not going to have any idea what you're talking about (they can guess) - do you want to ship something there? Are you making a comment/observation? A business opportunity? Your friend would probably ask clarifying questions to narrow down what you're talking about, or you would be more specific upfront.
Computers don't magically read your mind nor they know your intent. Adding quotes to search and other 'advanced' techniques are the equivalent of adding context to a conversation.
Personally I have rarely experienced what you have, and when I do it's usually for specific international queries (like searching for a Belgian slang word from Google US) which isn't an issue if you use the correct locale/language for what you're searching for. Obviously it's not perfect, I'm just surprised by your anecdote in the absence of a real example.
I also no longer get good navigation suggestion from Google Maps, maybe my constant frustration with Google lately is pushing me to be too dismissive about all of their products. Surely they do great things but I'm not as happy with Google as I used to be.
I find that systems trying to predict my intent are unbearable when they fail, it just feels like trying to interact with a very stupid person.
When you want build a 'smart' system in the absence of true AI (which does not exist), the only real solution is to build a product for the majority, or support configuration for everyone. The latter seems pretty tough for a search engine. That being said, the advanced search features are just that, an attempt to give the 5% the control they need to do what they want. Whether it works or not is another story.
It doesn't really excuse that the product fails you as a user, but at least it's a reasonable explanation (IMO). As I wrote this, I started thinking about plumbers/electricians going to a hardware store or interacting with electric/plumbing products designed for the general population. I'm sure they feel similar frustrations!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuMsDf-z_hs
And the AI was better this time, it returned DHL's page as the first result: https://mydhl.express.dhl/kp/en/contact-us.html
Yes, Google, I did not type North Korea DHL by accident. I really mean the odd one because I’m curious if they have DHL but I really don’t feel like explaining it to you. Could you please simply don’t assume stuff by default? I appreciate the “did you mean” suggestions but let’s not try to be too smart.
Google was great when it understood that North Korea and DPRK are the same thing but these days it’s like “North Korea DHL? You must be trying to send a package to Republic of Korea”. Maybe that’s because there’s not much ad revenue from helping out people to get information about DPRK.