Google search drops cache link from search results • Hacker News Board

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#41

Post by JoshTriplett » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:30 AM UTC

terrycody wrote: post #17

Cache: directive is very useful for many circumstances, especially for information archiving purpose, what a shame Google even want to cancel it.

Any archival purposes should use the Internet Archive; Google's cache couldn't be counted on to remain present and unchanged, even before this.

(The Internet Archive can't be counted on to remain unchanged either, but at least the Internet Archive will either remain unchanged or disappear, never change. I wish archive.org didn't auto-nuke entire sites based on robots.txt, because when domains disappear the domain squatters often seem to use robots.txt files for some reason.)

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#42

Post by nomilk » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:36 AM UTC

elashri wrote: post #28

Well Google is making more me convinced each day with my investment in kagi $10 subscription. Kagi native support for archive wayback is one of the most useful features for me.

Can you explain the UX. Is it just one click to go to the latest wayback machine version of the site or something like that? (it was on my 'to do' list to either find or make an extension that does this, so kagi could be quite useful to me also)

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#43

Post by vitorgrs » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:40 AM UTC

SllX wrote: post #38

freediver wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is still archive.org

Archive.org is great but its always better to have more options. This is another nail in the Google that was cool.

Bing Cache still exists btw. But it's indeed sad google is killing it...

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#44

Post by Kerbonut » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:42 AM UTC

grow2grow wrote: post #34

jdewerd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other day I did an AI related search and had zero organic results above the fold. It has begun.

I'm probably in the university library most weekends scanning books into my fine-tuned LLM. Y'all can enjoy the trash, I've had enough.

What does that mean? Are you creating your own LLM, finetuned off the books from your library or something else? Hard to pick up on what you’re saying.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#45

Post by b112 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:44 AM UTC

iamjackg wrote: post #4

I've had to use Google's cache maybe twice in the last year: the first time I was very surprised that they had hidden it one or two clicks deeper than it used to be; the second time was earlier today, and this time I couldn't find the button anywhere. I guess this confirms it's gone for real!

Heh.

First: "We should move the cache link one menu click deeper, we don't have room here"

(No one can easily find it now)

Later: "Wow, no one uses cache, guess we should remove the link!"

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#46

Post by jfoutz » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:50 AM UTC

jpalomaki wrote: post #37

jfoutz wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kagi is rad. I signed up about two months ago. yeah. I'm not comfortable using it at work, so I search on my personal phone. it works like google should (or did). It's hard to quantify. But yeah. Write your own engine (which isn't crazy) or pay someone to do it for you (my solution). Yeah. it's worth a few bucks.

I believe the reason why Kagi "feels right" for ex-Google users is that they are actually using Google to power the search [1]. They have other sources as well, but since it feels so natural after 25 years of daily Googling, I assume Google is quite important source for generic search. [1] https://help.kagi.com/kagi/search-details/search-sources.htm...

this makes me want to roll my own. But it's such a huge undertaking (maybe?).

I didn't realize it was a rebalancing. But seriously, I have no regrets. if nothing else, the incentive alignment matches my values better.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#47

Post by Noumenon72 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:50 AM UTC

angry_octet wrote: post #6

The cache: qualifier does still work for me, but I fear it too is deprecated. Another incredible Google blunder. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp...

That's really too bad. I have a keyword for that search, because I have blocked this site at work in my hosts file so I can't browse, and only look at specific links via the cache.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#48

Post by b112 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:51 AM UTC

jpalomaki wrote: post #37

jfoutz wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kagi is rad. I signed up about two months ago. yeah. I'm not comfortable using it at work, so I search on my personal phone. it works like google should (or did). It's hard to quantify. But yeah. Write your own engine (which isn't crazy) or pay someone to do it for you (my solution). Yeah. it's worth a few bucks.

I believe the reason why Kagi "feels right" for ex-Google users is that they are actually using Google to power the search [1]. They have other sources as well, but since it feels so natural after 25 years of daily Googling, I assume Google is quite important source for generic search. [1] https://help.kagi.com/kagi/search-details/search-sources.htm...

"But most importantly, we are known for our unique results, coming from our web index (internal name - Teclis) and news index (internal name - TinyGem). Kagi's indexes provide unique results that help you discover non-commercial websites and "small web" discussions"

They say that what makes them usable, their results most topical, is their own index.

They also list Google as an ancillary, as well as many others.

But the "feel" is more from the UI, and the relevance of the results. Both of these ways Google completely fails on now.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#49

Post by rtsil » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:55 AM UTC

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #24

Noticed this months ago. But what is the purpose of removing it? Has been a slightly useful thing especially for older links to see even barebones text-only for what might have been on a site without having to go to IA Wayback Machine etc.

> But what is the purpose of removing it?

The cache links had a near-zero click and that ruined the engagement metrics of a project manager?

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#50

Post by eimrine » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 5:08 AM UTC

Maybe Google is getting us ready to a post-Search AI world? Why to use Search, you might find there something which is gonna make you political active. Use neural network instead, it will help you to obey.