Google Search is rolling out a new feature that lets you view historical versions of web pages directly from search results. This development comes from a partnership between Google and the Internet Archive, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving digital content.
The integration of the Way Back Machine lets people access archived pages through the Wayback Machine. To access this feature, you can click on the three dots next to a search result, navigate to “More about this page,” and find a link titled “See previous versions on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.” This new feature addresses the need for historical context in search results, especially for pages that may have been recently updated. Previously, Google offered limited access to cached pages, but that functionality was removed earlier this year.
Google mentioned the value that many users, particularly researchers, place on accessing past versions of webpages. The Internet Archive, in turn, praised the increased accessibility of its archives through Google Search, emphasizing the importance of web archiving. We would hope that the Internet Archive is getting some financial support from Google for this integration, similar to Google paying Wikipedia for feature integrations across Search, YouTube, and other services, but there’s no public indication of that. This feature is also limited to the Internet Archive specifically, and not other similar services like Archive.today, so searching for pages there will still require extra clicks.
The integration of the Wayback Machine into Google Search is a huge development in search, even if it’s just a small menu item. It keeps sources reliable and accountable for published posts, and lets people access all of them directly from search without switching to separate websites. The feature is being rolled out globally and will be available in 40 different languages. However, a complete rollout may take a while.
Source: Google
