If you've ever viewed a cached version of a web page during a Google search, you should say goodbye to this feature.in Exchange with Xaka Twitter, Google search boss Danny Sullivan confirmed the option was discontinued, expressing that he was sad to see it go as it was one of the search giant's oldest features.
“Yes, it has been removed,” Sullivan said in the post. “I know, it's sad. I'm sad too. This is one of our oldest features. But it's one of the things that helped people access a page back in the day, when you often couldn't rely on page loads. Recently, the situation has changed significantly, and as improvements have been made, it has been decided to discontinue it. ”
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Caching is an option that appears when you click the three dots icon next to a search result to open the “About this result” window. Its purpose is to give you access to the page that was last indexed by Google, a useful feature if the current live version of the page doesn't load properly.
However, over time, website operators and developers started using this feature to check web pages for errors. Some people use this to compare the differences between live pages and older cached versions.
Although cache no longer appears as an accessible option from search results, you can still view cached versions of your site, at least for now. In your browser's URL field, type “cache:” followed by your site's domain name (for example, cache:zdnet.com). A message at the top of the page indicates that this is a snapshot of the page as it appeared at a specific date and time. However, Sullivan said this feature will also be retired soon, as Google plans to retire the feature completely.
Based on the responses to the post on X, it appears that some people are not happy to see this feature removed by Google. Trying to find a silver lining in the midst of dark news, Sullivan has linked links to old web pages from Google to his Archives of the Internet, a site that offers a large collection of books, movies, music, and other content. I expressed my personal hope that it might be added.
The archive is also known for its Wayback Machine, which houses over 800 long-term archived web pages and allows you to see snapshots of pages from a specific date.
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Making Google's cached pages accessible through the archive is a great fit because it allows people to see how the page has changed over time, Sullivan said. But he made no promises, explaining that Google would need to speak with archive officials to see how such a process would work.
“No promises,” he said. “We have to talk to them. Let's see how everything goes. There are people involved that are way beyond me. But I think it's good for everyone. .”
