Google is integrating The Internet Archive Wayback Machine into its About page results, enabling users to view historical webpage versions and other online content. Google is doing this because it removed the cache link from its search results earlier this year.  

Google statement

Google announced its partnership with The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, which enables users to search for older site versions and previously removed online content.

Since removing Google cache links, Google users have wanted access to archived web pages. 

Google acknowledged the need in their announcement:

• “We know that many people, including those in the research community, value being able to see previous versions of webpages when available. That’s why we’ve added links to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to our ‘About this page’ feature, to give people quick context and make this helpful information easily accessible through Search.”

Wayback Machine

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is an invaluable resource for researching anything online that has changed over the past 25 years.

Wayback Machine Director Mark Graham explained all in the recent partnership announcement:

• “The web is aging, and with it, countless URLs now lead to digital ghosts. Businesses fold, governments shift, disasters strike, and content management systems evolve—all erasing swaths of online history.
• Sometimes, creators themselves hit delete or bow to political pressure. Enter the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine: for more than 25 years, it’s been preserving snapshots of the public web.” 

How it works

Google has made accessing historical data easy by incorporating it into its Search results page; you click the three dots next to your chosen research link, then “More about this page,” which provides another link to the relative Wayback Machine page.

Wayback Machine’s explanation of how to use it:

• “To access this new feature, conduct a search on Google as usual. Next to each search result, you’ll find three dots, and clicking on these will bring up the About this Result panel. Within this panel, select More About This Page to reveal a link to the Wayback Machine page for that website.”

Google’s new feature allows researchers or anyone interested in what was previously published and may have changed or been removed over the past 25 years to view the historical content with just a few clicks.

As Director Mark Graham said:

• “This digital time capsule transforms our now-only browsing into a journey through internet history. And now, it’s just a click away from Google search results, opening a portal to a fuller, richer web—one that remembers what others have forgotten.”

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Terry O'Toole

Terry is a seasoned content marketing specialist with over six years of experience writing content that helps small businesses navigate where small businesses meet marketing - SEO, Social Media Marketing, etc. Terry has a proven track record of creating top-performing content in search results.
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