Google Search Now Offers Links to Archived Webpages via Wayback Machine

Google will now link you to webpages of the past via the Wayback Machine

Thanks to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, you'll be able to find older versions of the sites that appear in your search results. Ever wonder what a particular website looked like 10, 15, or even 25 years ago? The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is a great way to view the internet of the past -- and now you can tap into its historical archives directly through Google. Starting today, anyone running a Google search can access a link to the Internet Archive to check out a previous version of a website that appears in the results. The goal is to streamline access to archived details about a webpage to show how it's evolved, preserve important information, and offer help to researchers, according to a Google spokesperson. Also: 7 ways to supercharge your Google searches with AI "We know that many people, including those in the research community, value being able to see previous versions of webpages when available," the spokesperson said. "That's why we've added links to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to our 'About this page' feature, to give people quick context and make this helpful information easily accessible through Search." To access archived information about a specific site, click the three dots next to a search result. In the "About this result" panel, click the link "More about this page". That action displays a link to the Wayback Machine page for the given website. Clicking on the link then lets you view previous versions of the page as snapshots into how it appeared at different times in the past. Also: How to use Gemini's Gems to create your own custom AI assistants The collaboration between Google and the Wayback Machine is designed to stress the importance of archiving the web and especially to ease the way people can explore past content, according to The Internet Archive. The link to archived webpages won't be available in cases where the owner or rights holder has opted out of the process or if the page violates content policies. "The web is aging, and with it, countless URLs now lead to digital ghosts," Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, said in a statement. Also: Google's NotebookLM can discuss your notes with you now. How to access it "Enter the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine: for more than 25 years, it's been preserving snapshots of the public web. This digital time capsule transforms our 'now-only' browsing into a journey through internet history. And now, it's just a click away from Google search results, opening a portal to a fuller, richer web -- one that remembers what others have forgotten."

Back In Time: Google Search Results Now Include Links to the Internet Archive

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is a fun way to take a glimpse at the the history of the web. You can see exactly what a site looked like during its existence on a specific date. And now, Google is providing direct links while searching to see previous versions of a site. Direct Link from Google to Archived Versions The new feature is beginning to roll out to users starting today. In a blog post, the non-profit Internet Archive detailed more about the feature works. Start with a Google search and then click the three dots next to each result. That will bring up an About this Result Panel. You'll need to select More About This page in that panel to see a link to the Wayback Machine. Click that link to see a previous version of a page with snapshots of how it looked at numerous points in time. Depending on the age and popularity of the site, the Wayback Machine can show a huge number of snapshots. For example, the main page of MakeUseOf has been saved more than 27,000 times between 2006 and today. Just click on the year and view a calendar. Any date with a blue circle has a snapshot. Click on the circle and choose the time to see the site snapshot. Yes, Google Search Is Now Even Better Like many of us, I have a love/hate relationship with Google searching. Sure, in most situations, it is truly still best to find exactly what you want. I just make sure to ignore the unhelpful AI Overviews that are still full of incorrect information or bog down the search process. There are a wide variety of Google alternatives that might be able to find something Google can't. But just out of habit, I always head to Google. I'm glad to see Google actually add a feature that helps make its search function even better. Many casual users might not know about the Wayback Machine and the wealth of information that the service offers. A direct link from Google search results can help change that.