Google integrates Wayback Machine into search

In February 2024 Google confirmed on X that the cache links of their search will be discontinued. This was one of the oldest functions that showed the surfer a version of a website cached by Google. In other words, it showed a page as Google itself "saw" it.

This helped in various situations: For example, if (in the past) a page could not be opened (fast enough) due to a slow server. Or to find out what a company has added or removed from its website. It was also possible to use it to access websites blocked in your own region.

Direct access to the archived Internet

The public contact person for Google Search, Danny Sullivan, already made it clear in the aforementioned February post that his company is flirting with archive.org as a replacement for the cache function. It is therefore not entirely surprising that their Wayback Machine is now officially being introduced as a replacement.

Wayback Machine has allowed you to retrieve backups of websites saved at certain points since the dawn of the internet. You can see what the internet looked like 20 years ago. It is also possible to call up websites that no longer exist.

How to use the new Wayback Machine function

The new partnership between Google and the Internet Archive Wayback Machine results in a good replacement for the cache function. And it can also do more: unlike the previous function, it not only shows the last version of a website, but countless snapshots depending on the content.

To access the website copies of the past, you need to click on the three dots of a result and select "More about this page". It may also take some time for Google to roll out the new feature worldwide. At the time of publication of this article, it is not yet visible.