[LINK] Wayback Machine joins Google machine

[Stephen Loosley]

BoingBoing:

Wayback Machine integrated into Google search

By Gail Sherman  9:41 am Thu Sep 26, 2024
https://boingboing.net/2024/09/26/wayback-machine-integrated-into-google-search.html


The internet is, by its very nature, ephemeral. Sites shut down, and it is as if they never existed. The Internet Archive began backing up the web in 1996 as part of its mission to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge. Since then, it has saved 916 billion web pages. 

In 2001, the archive was made accessible and searchable to the general public via the Wayback Machine.

You can find saved versions of web pages by searching web.archive.org or clicking on a Wayback Machine extension in your browser. Now, Wayback Machine links are being added to Google search results.

To access this new feature, conduct a search on Google as usual. Next to each search result, you'll find three dots—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.

Through this direct link, you'll be able to view previous versions of a webpage via the Wayback Machine, offering a snapshot of how it appeared at different points in time. 

Google phased out its cached links in search earlier this year. The Wayback Machine has always been better at this than Google, so this is a welcome addition. However, it's unfortunate that the Wayback Machine links are buried under so many layers and not in a more prominent position. You are not likely to find them unless you are actively looking for them.

Previously: Search the Wayback Machine