The Internet Kinda/Sorta Has Fresh-By Dating

A Google employee piped up with the following response to my "The Internet Lacks Fresh-By Dating" article:

Actually, Google web search does have a freshness parameter in search, but it is hidden behind a UI experience that is more than a bit impenetrable.

1 - search for something

2 - on the left hand nav-bar, there should be a 'Show search tools' option -- click on this.

3 - there should now be a pile of date restricts on the left hand side, including a custom range option.

Doing something like this perfectly is very hard, for all the reasons you mention, but the time restricts may prove useful.