After discontinuing cached links in February, Google appears to have changed course by partnering with the Internet Archive to display older versions of websites in its search results

Starting today (September 11), Google will now display direct links to cached versions of websites in search results via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (h/t Gizmodo)

In the ever-evolving Internet, URLs and links are constantly changing Sometimes simple edits are made, as in this article, or people try to remove content Also, websites disappear or someone stops paying hosting fees For the past 30 years, Google has provided a way to view older versions of websites in archived form

When Google removed the cache feature in February, Google Search liaison Danny Sullivan tweeted, “Yes, it was removed I'm sad Sad for me too It is one of the oldest features But it was meant to help people get to pages back in the day when you often couldn't count on a page to load It's much improved these days So we decided to retire it”

However, Sullivan said he hopes Google will add links from the Internet Archive within the “About this result” section of search results

“Personally, I would like to see a link to @internetarchive added within the ‘About this Result’ section from where the cached link used to be It's a great resource,” Sullivan added

He made no promises at the time, but someone at the Internet Archive or Google, or both, was listening

In a blog post, Internet Archive explained how the new cache feature would work Currently, when you search, you see three dots and an “About This Result” panel Within that panel is a section called “More About This Page,” where you can find the website's Wayback Machine page, which provides a static, time-lapse view of how the web page was displayed at various points in time It is like a time lapse of how the web page was displayed at various points in time

Google confirmed this change to 9to5Google In a statement, the company said, “We know that many people, including those in the research community, value being able to see previous versions of web pages when they are available To that end, we have added a link to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to the “About This Page” feature

This is a welcome move, and the Internet Archive seems excited about the opportunity It is a nice victory for them, especially after the nonprofit lost a copyright lawsuit last week regarding the organization's digital lending library

“For over 25 years, [the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine] has preserved a snapshot of the public web,” said Wayback Machine Director Mark Graham in an Internet Archive post This digital time capsule is a great way to preserve the public web This digital time capsule transforms our 'just now' browsing into a journey through the history of the Internet And now, a simple click on a Google search result opens a portal to a richer, fuller Web

In the future, more websites will die, others will fall into disuse and decay Archiving is important not only for information, but also to see how the Web has evolved as entire cultures live and die in a digital-only space It gives us at least one way to remember