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Google Search adds links to archived webpages from Internet Archive's Wayback Machine

Internet Archive has announced that it has entered a partnership with Google to display links to archived versions of webpages in Google Search. This will help users see what a webpage's contents looked like in the past.

You may recall that the search giant removed Google Cached links from search results in February this year. That was a rather strange decision, and was criticized by many users. However, at that time, Google's Public Liaison for Search, Danny Sullivan, had hinted that Google could add support for links from the Internet Archive. That is exactly what has happened now, and it should be a welcome change for everyone.

Here are a few reasons why an archive function is useful:

  • Sometimes websites are deleted, and fans of the sites may want to visit the old pages, to see what it looked like, or even to find information that is not available elsewhere.
  • Sometimes websites are forced to pull down webpages due to differences with a company, legal and/or political reasons.
  • We have also seen shady examples of privacy policies being changed silently. This is why I think archived copies of webpages can be excellent for preservation of data, and knowledge.

That said, the Internet Archive has confirmed that it will respect the decision of rights holders who opt out of having their site archived. This also applies to webpages that may violate content policies. So, in such cases, the links to archived webpages will not be available.

How does the feature work? According to the official announcement, users who perform a search on Google will need to access a specific section of the result, under which the archived links are available.

I tried it in multiple browsers, but I don't see the option for the archived links yet. That means the feature is being rolling out. But I'll highlight the steps here.

How to access archived versions of webpages using Google Search

1. Go to Google.com

2. Run a search query.

3. Click on the three-dot button next to a result, and then click "More about this page".

How to access archived versions of webpages using Google Search

This will show an option similar to the one in the screenshot below, which was sent by Google to Search Engine Land.

View archived versions of webpages using Google Search

Google says that it added the option to view archived pages in order to help researchers find old data quickly. It is useful, but I don't know about the quick part.

One can always search the Internet Archive directly to find older versions of webpages, and that is still a lot faster than searching, scrolling through the result, clicking on the about this page section, and then on the link. Why not just add a link to archived versions directly under the three-dot button, as a menu option, or the panel that it opens? That would have been more optimal, at least on desktops. That's how the old Google Cached View worked, why did they change the experience again?

I wonder if this change will help preserve links from goo.gl, probably not. In case you are not aware, Google killed its URL shortening service last month.

What do you think of links to archived versions? Is it a useful addition?

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