September 11th, 2024

Google partners with Internet Archive to link to archives in search

Google's Search now links to The Internet Archive, allowing users to access previous web page versions via the Wayback Machine. This feature supports researchers and enhances historical data accessibility.

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Google partners with Internet Archive to link to archives in search

Google has announced a new feature in its Search results that links directly to The Internet Archive, enhancing the historical context available for web pages. This integration allows users to access previous versions of web pages through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which preserves significant portions of the web for reference. The feature is part of Google's "About this page" option, which can be accessed by clicking the three-dots menu next to search results. This partnership aims to provide researchers and users with easier access to historical data, especially since Google had previously removed cached page functionality earlier this year. The Internet Archive has expressed its support for this collaboration, emphasizing the importance of web archiving. The rollout of this feature is currently in progress, and users are encouraged to check for its availability in their search results.

- Google Search now links to The Internet Archive for historical context.

- Users can access previous versions of web pages via the Wayback Machine.

- The feature is accessible through the "About this page" option in search results.

- This partnership aims to support researchers and enhance information accessibility.

- The rollout of the feature is ongoing, with users encouraged to check for updates.

Link Icon 8 comments
By @pncnmnp - 7 months
Do you think Google is worried about a link exodus if something happens to the Internet Archive (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41447758)? I started maintaining a blog and a corresponding link log in 2019, and I've already seen links disappearing, relying on the Wayback Machine for them. I've found scanned versions of obscure magazines and research papers on the IA that are impossible to find anywhere else on the web. If they do end up shutting down, I am worried that the exodus is going to be real. I'm not sure what the contingency plan is.
By @giancarlostoro - 7 months
Internet archive is so darn useful, I wish it had captured so much more, there's times where I just can't find some niche thing I remembered. But it does capture a lot of things.
By @ChrisArchitect - 7 months
By @kelsey98765431 - 7 months
I noticed google's cache vanished and I feared IA would just feel even more pressure from the change, this spikes that into a near terror. When there was a google cache of everything available online it was harder to point at IA because you would need to face the juggernaut if you wanted to challenge caches in court. It feels like google is basically saying "good luck" with this change now, I foresee NYT and their scummy ilk getting aggressive about their precious content farms being jeopardized. Not a good omen from my view.
By @lofaszvanitt - 7 months
And will this make the IA go down on all fours, then die from the influx of new requests?
By @p0358 - 7 months
This is low-key so useless. From the headline I expected some deeper kind of integration, indexing, ability to find old dead pages with useful info more easily.

Nope.

They just throw a generic link in a place hidden so deep that nobody will ever see it. You first need to click the three dots, then find the "More about this page" in the middle, and there it is. I don't know why they bothered announcing it at all, it's so hidden and useless they might as well have not bothered at all. Just copy-paste the website link into the IA search and the end result will be the same but faster.