You are looking at the HTML representation of the XML format.
HTML is good for debugging, but is unsuitable for application use.
Specify the format parameter to change the output format.
To see the non HTML representation of the XML format, set format=xml.
See the complete documentation, or API help for more information. 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<api>
  <query>
    <search>
      <p ns="0" title="Lilmax" snippet="...uminum biconic fairing.)  It will also be wider than the booster segments, &lt;span class=&#039;searchmatch&#039;&gt;meaning&lt;/span&gt; it will need to be shipped by special aircrafts and other vehicles. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&#10;" size="14094" wordcount="2336" timestamp="2010-02-05T21:56:49Z" />
      <p ns="0" title="ISDC" snippet="...oesn’t warrant capital letters and their acronym has evolved into a noun &lt;span class=&#039;searchmatch&#039;&gt;meaning&lt;/span&gt; “a group that fools everybody“). Bob fiercely claimed, “America was s&#10;" size="12241" wordcount="1985" timestamp="2010-04-14T18:07:34Z" />
    </search>
  </query>
</api>