Google is no longer maintaining a backup of the entire Internet through its “cached” links in Google Search. The feature, which allowed users to access a snapshot of a webpage, is being removed as it was originally designed to help users load pages when the internet was less reliable. Google has decided to retire this feature due to advancements in internet reliability.
The removal of cached links began in December, and currently, users do not see any cache links in Google Search. However, users can still create their own cache links by using specific URLs or by typing “cache:” followed by a URL into Google Search. The cached version of some websites may still work.
Previously, cached links were accessible through a drop-down menu next to search results, providing a backup of webpages as the Google web crawler explored the internet. This change is seen as a cost-saving measure by Google, potentially freeing up significant resources.
While cached links were useful for accessing websites that were down or quickly changed, they also offered insights into how Google’s web crawler viewed the web. The cached pages didn’t necessarily render as expected, and they revealed details about the evolution of Google Bot’s capabilities. With the demise of cached sites, the burden of archiving and tracking changes on the web now falls more on the Internet Archive.
