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Google search drops cache link from search results

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Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#91

Post by zeroalpha »

rkagerer wrote: post #88

Hey, if anyone from Google is here reading this, what gives? Could you tell your decision makers to stop making such stupid, user-hostile decisions?

Not from google but I can tell you a probable reason. I'd wager they did this purposefully, knowing that it's user-hostile. Google cache shows you what a page looks like to Google, and that often has things such as paywalls (edit - or login gates) disabled to improve indexability of the page. People could use this to get around paywalls, which is not great for profitability. Cached pages also don't show you the latest active ads.

Edit: also, easy access to non-paywalled content gives you a massive trove of training data for machine learning models. Even if these aren't the main reasons for this feature disappearing, they're pretty convenient side effects.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#92

Post by yreg »

rafark wrote: post #60
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...

I have a feeling this has to do with AI and all the lawsuits regarding content and copyright, storing and displaying the contents of a third party website to the end user might not be the best idea right now (I know the way back machine exists but they’re not a for profit company like google).

I won't be surprised if Archive.org ends up getting screwed at the end of this fight.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#94

Post by cebert »

rafark wrote: post #60
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...

I have a feeling this has to do with AI and all the lawsuits regarding content and copyright, storing and displaying the contents of a third party website to the end user might not be the best idea right now (I know the way back machine exists but they’re not a for profit company like google).

It could also be security related. I know occasionally companies accidentally make things public they didn’t intend to be public due to misconfiguration. Once this happens, those pages are available in the Google cache even when they’re no longer accessible. You can request the cached results be removed, but this takes time.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#95

Post by rkagerer »

zeroalpha wrote: post #91
rkagerer wrote: post #88

Hey, if anyone from Google is here reading this, what gives? Could you tell your decision makers to stop making such stupid, user-hostile decisions?

Not from google but I can tell you a probable reason. I'd wager they did this purposefully, knowing that it's user-hostile. Google cache shows you what a page looks like to Google, and that often has things such as paywalls (edit - or login gates) disabled to improve indexability of the page. People could use this to get around paywalls, which is not great for profitability. Cached pages also don't show you the lates…

It saddens me when companies wilfully slap their users across the face. It's eventually self-harming, as each regression of their product's quality is an opportunity someone else will use to out-compete them (over the long term).

I remember being in an interview with a googler and they posed some contrived problem which, in restrosoect, I realized they intended I solve using URL re-writes (so all result clicks run through Google rather than direct to the desired site). This was before that was the norm. It was appalling - there's no way I would have entertained such an approach due to the way it breaks the user's expectations about how links work (not to mention degrading their privacy).

Today I can't copy a 'bare' news site link without extra steps or properly rely on the back button, and I wish I could find that guy and slap them across the head for making my Internet a shittier place.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#96

Post by zeroalpha »

rkagerer wrote: post #95
zeroalpha wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not from google but I can tell you a probable reason. I'd wager they did this purposefully, knowing that it's user-hostile. Google cache shows you what a page looks like to Google, and that often has things such as paywalls (edit - or login gates) disabled to improve indexability of the page. People could use this to get around paywalls, which is not great for profitability. Cached pages also don't show you the lates…

It saddens me when companies wilfully slap their users across the face. It's eventually self-harming, as each regression of their product's quality is an opportunity someone else will use to out-compete them (over the long term). I remember being in an interview with a googler and they posed some contrived problem which, in restrosoect, I realized they intended I solve using URL re-writes (so all result clicks run th…

> they intended I solve using URL re-writes (so all result clicks run through Google rather than direct to the desired site).

Interesting, well we know how that ended with google AMP. It's good that we have people that think like you. Sadly there's always someone else willing to just take the money and implement it. I'm grateful for the community and the hobbyists that build workarounds and alternatives (e.g. searxng), and I contribute where I can. I think that's the only real solution at the moment.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#97

Post by medstrom »

dns_snek wrote: post #90
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, Reddit is the most astroturfed place on the internet. There's a thriving market in "high karma" accounts that are bought and sold by PR firms, SEO companies, and guerilla marketers -- and a huge fraction, if not an outright majority, of product-related posts are engineered from such sources with undisclosed interests. These days, it's one of the cheapest, and one of the "best," ways to advertise. I don't think…

Finding genuine product reviews is borderline impossible these days. Search results are usually just worthless affiliate link spam, even from supposed "reputable" outlets. Are there any other places on the internet that try to solve this problem in a way that can't be easily gamed by marketers?

At risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, think back to how you would've browsed the internet before Google. You probably would've grown your own web-directory of bookmarks, right? That's also how you explore the non-SEO-paved parts of the internet now.

I haven't learned to find product reviews yet, but I imagine that a trick would be to know which forums to go for certain kinds of products, e.g. maybe https://xdaforums.com/ for Android devices.

There is also the search engine https://boardreader.com/ which ONLY searches proper forums--sometimes you find neat threads, sometimes not.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#98

Post by zeroalpha »

sph wrote: post #81
whamlastxmas wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appending site:Reddit.com to everything bc Reddit search sucks

Yeah but they enshittified Reddit too, so many links are to "unreviewed" subreddits that force you to login. If it was not for Kagi putting some sanity back into search, Google and Reddit going to shit would have had me seriously reconsider this career and spending so much time online. I think it is abhorrent borderline criminal to place yourself at the centre of the Internet experience, and one day decide to make it…

Yeah exactly. Using reddit as a qualifier works only until everyone starts doing it. Thankfully for now we have old.reddit.com, until they deprecate that with some bullshit excuse in PR-english (who knows what will happen after the IPO). Then there's teddit, libreddit, etc., but they only work as long as reddit doesn't make a change. Feels like everything is a cat and mouse game these days.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#99

Post by zeroalpha »

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.

If you're not saying it sarcastically, that's an awesome project.

Re: Google search drops cache link from search results

#100

Post by lupusreal »

whamlastxmas wrote: post #68
archerx wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t even know what the point of using google search anymore is...

Appending site:Reddit.com to everything bc Reddit search sucks

I more often want the opposite, because reddit sucks for answering the sort of questions I usually search for.
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