Google confirms that cache links have been removed from search results

[harlan4096]

Google Search has removed cache links from the search results. The feature allowed users to view old versions of web pages.

The tool was useful to compare the current version of a page and a previous version, to see if the contents were edited. For example, you could use it to read the privacy policy of a service, or use it to access pages that were taken down.

Google retires cache links from search results

Search Engine Land's Barry Schwartz had reported that cache links were not appearing in the search results snippets a week ago. He had asked Danny Sullivan, Google's Public Liaison for Search, whether the removal was permanent. Sullivan replied to his query to confirm that the Mountain View company has indeed retired the feature.

The Cache operator still works, you can use it as follows. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s...e:sitename. For example, https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s...ghacks.net



But this is going away too. Sullivan says that cache: links will disappear completely in the near future. The search engine will respect the noarchive tags on websites. Sullivan explained that Google Cache links were originally designed to help people access pages reliably, e.g. when a web page would not load. The feature was retired because things have "greatly improved", possibly referring to faster internet connections.
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