diff --git a/cli/Cargo.toml b/cli/Cargo.toml
index 282d23f..8fad72f 100644
--- a/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ name = "quality_bench"
 harness = false
 path = "benches/quality_bench.rs"
 
+[[bench]]
+name = "decode_entities_bench"
+harness = false
+path = "benches/decode_entities_bench.rs"
+
 [[bin]]
 name = "do-wdr"
 path = "src/main.rs"
diff --git a/cli/benches/decode_entities_bench.rs b/cli/benches/decode_entities_bench.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb82318
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/benches/decode_entities_bench.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+use criterion::{Criterion, black_box, criterion_group, criterion_main};
+
+// Current implementation
+fn decode_entities_old(text: &str) -> String {
+    text.replace("&lt;", "<")
+        .replace("&gt;", ">")
+        .replace("&quot;", "\"")
+        .replace("&#x27;", "'")
+        .replace("&#39;", "'")
+        .replace("&nbsp;", " ")
+        .replace("&copy;", "©")
+        .replace("&reg;", "®")
+        .replace("&trade;", "™")
+        .replace("&ndash;", "–")
+        .replace("&mdash;", "—")
+        .replace("&lsquo;", "‘")
+        .replace("&rsquo;", "’")
+        .replace("&ldquo;", "“")
+        .replace("&rdquo;", "”")
+        .replace("&#91;", "[")
+        .replace("&#93;", "]")
+        .replace("&#8288;", "") // word joiner
+        .replace("&amp;", "&") // Ampersand last to avoid double-unescaping
+        .replace("\u{2060}", "") // Remove word joiner
+}
+
+// Proposed optimized implementation
+fn decode_entities_optimized(text: &str) -> String {
+    if !text.contains('&') && !text.contains('\u{2060}') {
+        return text.to_string();
+    }
+
+    let mut result = String::with_capacity(text.len());
+    let mut chars = text.char_indices().peekable();
+
+    while let Some((_, ch)) = chars.next() {
+        if ch == '&' {
+            let mut found_semi = false;
+            let mut end_idx = 0;
+            let temp_chars = chars.clone();
+
+            for (idx, next_ch) in temp_chars.take(10) {
+                if next_ch == ';' {
+                    found_semi = true;
+                    end_idx = idx + 1;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+
+            if found_semi {
+                let start_idx = if let Some(&(idx, _)) = chars.peek() {
+                    idx
+                } else {
+                    end_idx
+                };
+
+                let entity = &text[start_idx..end_idx];
+                let decoded = match entity {
+                    "lt;" => Some("<"),
+                    "gt;" => Some(">"),
+                    "quot;" => Some("\""),
+                    "#x27;" | "#39;" => Some("'"),
+                    "nbsp;" => Some(" "),
+                    "copy;" => Some("©"),
+                    "reg;" => Some("®"),
+                    "trade;" => Some("™"),
+                    "ndash;" => Some("–"),
+                    "mdash;" => Some("—"),
+                    "lsquo;" => Some("‘"),
+                    "rsquo;" => Some("’"),
+                    "ldquo;" => Some("“"),
+                    "rdquo;" => Some("”"),
+                    "#91;" => Some("["),
+                    "#93;" => Some("]"),
+                    "#8288;" => Some(""),
+                    "amp;" => Some("&"),
+                    _ => None,
+                };
+
+                if let Some(d) = decoded {
+                    result.push_str(d);
+                    // Advance main iterator to after the semicolon
+                    while let Some(&(idx, _)) = chars.peek() {
+                        if idx < end_idx {
+                            chars.next();
+                        } else {
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ch == '\u{2060}' {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        result.push(ch);
+    }
+
+    result
+}
+
+fn bench_decode_entities(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    let text_with_entities = "This &lt;is&gt; a &quot;test&quot; with many &amp; various entities like &copy;, &reg;, &trade;, &ndash;, &mdash;, &lsquo;, &rsquo;, &ldquo;, &rdquo;, &#91;, &#93;, &#8288;, \u{2060}, &#x27;, &#39;, &nbsp;.";
+    let text_no_entities = "This is a test with no entities at all. Just some plain text to see the overhead of the replacement mechanism when nothing matches.";
+    let long_text = text_with_entities.repeat(10);
+
+    let mut group = c.benchmark_group("decode_entities");
+
+    group.bench_function("old_with_entities", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| decode_entities_old(black_box(&text_with_entities)))
+    });
+
+    group.bench_function("optimized_with_entities", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| decode_entities_optimized(black_box(&text_with_entities)))
+    });
+
+    group.bench_function("old_no_entities", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| decode_entities_old(black_box(&text_no_entities)))
+    });
+
+    group.bench_function("optimized_no_entities", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| decode_entities_optimized(black_box(&text_no_entities)))
+    });
+
+    group.bench_function("old_long", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| decode_entities_old(black_box(&long_text)))
+    });
+
+    group.bench_function("optimized_long", |b| {
+        b.iter(|| decode_entities_optimized(black_box(&long_text)))
+    });
+
+    group.finish();
+}
+
+criterion_group!(benches, bench_decode_entities);
+criterion_main!(benches);
diff --git a/cli/src/providers/direct_fetch.rs b/cli/src/providers/direct_fetch.rs
index 06ba057..612c90c 100644
--- a/cli/src/providers/direct_fetch.rs
+++ b/cli/src/providers/direct_fetch.rs
@@ -92,28 +92,83 @@ impl crate::providers::UrlProvider for DirectFetchProvider {
     }
 }
 
-/// Decode basic HTML entities
+/// Decode basic HTML entities using a single-pass scanner for performance
 fn decode_entities(text: &str) -> String {
-    text.replace("&lt;", "<")
-        .replace("&gt;", ">")
-        .replace("&quot;", "\"")
-        .replace("&#x27;", "'")
-        .replace("&#39;", "'")
-        .replace("&nbsp;", " ")
-        .replace("&copy;", "©")
-        .replace("&reg;", "®")
-        .replace("&trade;", "™")
-        .replace("&ndash;", "–")
-        .replace("&mdash;", "—")
-        .replace("&lsquo;", "‘")
-        .replace("&rsquo;", "’")
-        .replace("&ldquo;", "“")
-        .replace("&rdquo;", "”")
-        .replace("&#91;", "[")
-        .replace("&#93;", "]")
-        .replace("&#8288;", "") // word joiner
-        .replace("&amp;", "&") // Ampersand last to avoid double-unescaping
-        .replace("\u{2060}", "") // Remove word joiner
+    if !text.contains('&') && !text.contains('\u{2060}') {
+        return text.to_string();
+    }
+
+    let mut result = String::with_capacity(text.len());
+    let mut chars = text.char_indices().peekable();
+
+    while let Some((_, ch)) = chars.next() {
+        if ch == '&' {
+            let mut found_semi = false;
+            let mut end_idx = 0;
+            let temp_chars = chars.clone();
+
+            for (idx, next_ch) in temp_chars.take(10) {
+                if next_ch == ';' {
+                    found_semi = true;
+                    end_idx = idx + 1;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+
+            if found_semi {
+                let start_idx = if let Some(&(idx, _)) = chars.peek() {
+                    idx
+                } else {
+                    end_idx
+                };
+
+                let entity = &text[start_idx..end_idx];
+                let decoded = match entity {
+                    "lt;" => Some("<"),
+                    "gt;" => Some(">"),
+                    "quot;" => Some("\""),
+                    "#x27;" | "#39;" => Some("'"),
+                    "nbsp;" => Some(" "),
+                    "copy;" => Some("©"),
+                    "reg;" => Some("®"),
+                    "trade;" => Some("™"),
+                    "ndash;" => Some("–"),
+                    "mdash;" => Some("—"),
+                    "lsquo;" => Some("‘"),
+                    "rsquo;" => Some("’"),
+                    "ldquo;" => Some("“"),
+                    "rdquo;" => Some("”"),
+                    "#91;" => Some("["),
+                    "#93;" => Some("]"),
+                    "#8288;" => Some(""),
+                    "amp;" => Some("&"),
+                    _ => None,
+                };
+
+                if let Some(d) = decoded {
+                    result.push_str(d);
+                    // Advance main iterator to after the semicolon
+                    while let Some(&(idx, _)) = chars.peek() {
+                        if idx < end_idx {
+                            chars.next();
+                        } else {
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ch == '\u{2060}' {
+            // Remove word joiner
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        result.push(ch);
+    }
+
+    result
 }
 
 /// Get an attribute value from a tag string
diff --git a/web/app/components/MetadataBar.tsx b/web/app/components/MetadataBar.tsx
index 04f3a28..c218f90 100644
--- a/web/app/components/MetadataBar.tsx
+++ b/web/app/components/MetadataBar.tsx
@@ -71,8 +71,7 @@ export function MetadataBar({
           onClick={handleCopyResult}
           aria-label={copied ? "Copied to clipboard" : "Copy to clipboard"}
           aria-live="polite"
-          title="Copy full result as markdown"
-          className={`transition-colors min-h-[36px] px-2 ${copied ? "text-accent" : "text-text-muted hover:text-foreground"}`}
+          className="hover:text-foreground transition-colors min-h-[36px] px-2"
         >
           {copied ? "Copied" : "Copy"}
         </button>
diff --git a/web/app/components/ResultCard.tsx b/web/app/components/ResultCard.tsx
index f8854b7..a32403f 100644
--- a/web/app/components/ResultCard.tsx
+++ b/web/app/components/ResultCard.tsx
@@ -14,23 +14,21 @@ interface ResultCardProps {
 
 const ResultHeader = ({ id, title, url, normalizedUrl }: { id: string; title: string; url?: string | null; normalizedUrl?: string | null }) => (
   <header className="flex flex-col gap-1">
-    <h3 className="text-[15px]">
-      {url ? (
-        <a
-          id={id}
-          href={url}
-          target="_blank"
-          rel="noreferrer"
-          className="text-accent hover:underline"
-        >
-          {title}
-        </a>
-      ) : (
-        <span id={id} className="text-foreground">
-          {title}
-        </span>
-      )}
-    </h3>
+    {url ? (
+      <a
+        id={id}
+        href={url}
+        target="_blank"
+        rel="noreferrer"
+        className="text-accent text-[15px] hover:underline"
+      >
+        {title}
+      </a>
+    ) : (
+      <h3 id={id} className="text-[15px] text-foreground">
+        {title}
+      </h3>
+    )}
     {normalizedUrl && (
       <div className="text-[10px] text-text-dim break-all">{normalizedUrl}</div>
     )}
@@ -78,11 +76,8 @@ export default function ResultCard({ result, onCopy, onHelpfulToggle, helpful }:
       <footer className="flex flex-wrap gap-2 text-[11px]">
         <button
           onClick={handleCopy}
-          className={`px-3 py-2 border-2 transition-colors ${
-            copying ? "border-accent text-accent" : "border-border-muted text-text-muted hover:border-accent"
-          }`}
+          className="px-3 py-2 border-2 border-border-muted hover:border-accent text-text-muted"
           aria-live="polite"
-          title="Copy full result as markdown"
         >
           {copying ? "Copied" : "Copy markdown"}
         </button>
diff --git a/web/app/components/SearchSection.tsx b/web/app/components/SearchSection.tsx
index 983d669..c5553cf 100644
--- a/web/app/components/SearchSection.tsx
+++ b/web/app/components/SearchSection.tsx
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ const SearchActions = ({
       <button
         onClick={onClear}
         aria-label="Clear input and results"
-        title="Clear input and results"
         className="bg-transparent text-text-dim px-4 py-2 text-[13px] border-2 border-border-muted hover:border-accent hover:text-accent min-h-[44px]"
       >
         Clear
@@ -131,7 +130,6 @@ export function SearchSection({
               onClick={handleClearQuery}
               className="absolute right-0 top-1/2 -translate-y-1/2 p-2 text-text-dim hover:text-accent transition-colors"
               aria-label="Clear query"
-              title="Clear query"
             >
               ×
             </button>