Google is removing the cached link feature in its search results

Google announced the removal of the “Cached” link from search result snippets. The “cache” functionality itself is also scheduled for retirement soon.

In easy words, Google is getting rid of the “Cached” button you might see sometimes under search results. This means you won’t be able to easily access an older version of a webpage if the current one is down or changed.

The “Cached” link you used to see under some search results served two main purposes:

1. Accessing outdated content: Sometimes, websites change or become unavailable. Clicking the “Cached” link allowed you to see a snapshot of the website as it appeared when Google last crawled it. This was helpful if you needed information that was no longer present on the live website.
2. Viewing temporarily unavailable webpages: If a website was down for maintenance or experiencing high traffic, clicking “Cached” would often display a functional copy of the website from Google’s cache. This allowed you to access the website despite its temporary unavailability.

The “Cached” link functioned like a time capsule for websites, letting you peek into their past versions or access them when they were temporarily offline.

What does the change mean?

• Users will no longer see the “Cached” link displayed beneath some search results.
• Searching using the cache: operator will still work temporarily, but this functionality will eventually be phased out.
• “noarchive” tags will continue to be respected by Google.

But why is Google doing it?

Limited usage of the cache link compared to other search features, increasing prevalence of web technologies incompatible with caching (e.g., JavaScript), and availability of alternative solutions for accessing historical content.

Overall, removing the cache link signifies Google’s adaptation to a changing web environment. While some users may experience inconvenience, alternative solutions exist. 

More here.