Discussion on answer by DogBoy37: Should you refactor when there are no tests?

@Graham, did you actually use the Internet in the mid- to late-90s, or are you just going off of stories? Sure, the lack of ads (and the resulting rapid load times) was a plus for Google, but the big selling point was the near-miraculous quality of the search results. No other search engine of the time would have dared put an "I'm feeling lucky" button on the search box.