Ever see a button somewhere with a handmade sign on it reading something like "Don't push this button. Use that one over there -->"? For some reason I'm thinking of that right now.

Me too, up till about last week. And the behavior doesn't seem to be different whether hitting <Enter> in the search box or clicking the <Search> button. And it doesn't seem to matter what browser I'm using. Chrome, rekong or Firefox on Kubutu. N9 default browser -- whatever that one was called. Microb on N900.

Ya, I had considered this. I can really break powersearch completely by turning on Google Ajax blocking in Ghostery (or by disabling JavaScript): the searchbox and button won't appear at all. But that makes perfect sense.

So I tried disabling the various adblockers and anti-trackers. And in my rekonq attempt, I didn't install any blockers at all.

The weirdest thing is that powersearch sometimes works whether I click the button or hit <Enter>. Occasionally on the first try, but sometimes after many attempts. And is doesn't always fail the same way. Sometimes I see "No Results". Sometimes I see nothing. Sometimes nothing except the little orange horizontal line. The inconsistency is the real headscratcher.

At this point, I'm wondering if it's an aura thing.