It is when that search engine has been telling you for 20+ years to let them collect all your data because in exchange you get personalized search results.

I don't disagree. As soon as I started typing I would realize that crocs would probably turn up the shoe. However, to the degree that people routinely use regionalisms, it's easy to see why they might use them reflexively. Of course, it's also easy to see why a search engine might not return the results they expect.