Google Removes Cached Links: A Farewell to a Handy Web Tool

Google removes cached links, once a convenient tool for accessing websites during downtime or revisions. Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, confirmed the removal of this feature, which was often relied upon by SEO professionals to monitor competitors’ updates.

Speculation about the demise of cached links had circulated for a while, with reports indicating Google’s gradual removal of the feature. The disappearance began late last year when cached links vanished from the About this result panel, accessible through the three-button menu beside a search result.

Addressing these reports, Sullivan officially confirmed the retirement of the cached links feature. Initially designed to assist users in accessing web pages during unreliable internet connections, Google’s cache function was a historical solution to an early web-related issue.

Google Removes Cached Links: A Farewell to a Handy Web Tool

Many users found this feature useful, particularly journalists who relied on cached links to track changes made by companies to their websites. Additionally, the cache became a tool against paywalls or a cost-effective VPN alternative for accessing websites blocked in specific regions.

Previously, accessing a page’s cache was simple, with a “Cached” button appearing in the About this result box at the bottom of search results. Savvy users could also use the “cache:” prefix before a URL in the search bar to directly access Google’s cached version. However, Sullivan indicates that they are phasing out even this workaround.

While the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine provides another option to access old versions of websites, Sullivan only suggested the possibility of collaboration, envisioning a scenario where the cached link redirects to the Wayback Machine’s snapshot of a webpage.

Google wasn’t financially benefiting significantly from users accessing cached results. Although Google’s web crawler collected data extensively, creating a backup of the entire internet, the company seems to be adopting a cost-effective approach by clearing out some data cache and freeing up resources.

Despite this, the easy accessibility of cached links served as a valuable resource for searchers during controversies, providing a reliable safety net when issues such as major errors in content or evidence of deleted social media posts arose.