Google Moves ‘noarchive’ Tag to Historical Reference in Search Central Documentation Update

In a recent update to its Search Central documentation, Google has officially moved the ‘noarchive’ rule to a historical reference section.

The updated text in Google’s help document states:

“The noarchive rule is no longer used by Google Search to control whether a cached link is shown in search results, as the cached link feature no longer exists.”

This follows Google’s earlier decision to remove the cache: search operator, which was reported last week.

Implications For Websites

While Google indicates that websites don’t need to remove the meta tag, it noted that “other search engines and services may be using it.”

The ‘noarchive’ tag has been a staple of SEO practices for years, allowing websites to prevent search engines from storing cached versions of their pages.

Its move to a historical reference underscores the ever-changing nature of Google Search.

The Gradual Phasing Out of Cached Pages

This documentation update is in line with Google’s gradual phasing out of the cached page feature.

Last week, Google removed the documentation for the cache: search operator, which had enabled users to view Google’s stored version of a webpage.

At that time, Google’s Search Liaison noted on social media that the cache feature was initially intended to assist users in accessing pages when loading was unreliable.

With advancements in web technology, Google considered the feature unnecessary.

As an alternative, Google has begun integrating links to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine in its “About this page” feature, offering searchers a way to view historical versions of webpages.

Controlling Archiving In The Wayback Machine

The ‘noarchive’ tag does not affect the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

The Wayback Machine, now linked by Google in search results pages, operates under its own rules for archiving and exclusion.

To prevent pages from being archived by the Wayback Machine, you have several options:

1. Robots.txt: Adding specific directives to the robots.txt file can prevent the Wayback Machine from crawling and archiving pages. For example:

   • User-agent: ia_archiver
   • Disallow: /

2. Direct Request: Website owners can contact the Internet Archive to request the removal of specific pages or domains from the Wayback Machine.

3. Password Protection: Placing content behind a login wall effectively prevents it from being archived.

Note that these methods are specific to the Wayback Machine and differ from Google’s now-deprecated ‘noarchive’ tag.

Conclusion

As search technology progresses, it’s common to see legacy features retired in favor of new solutions.

It’s time to update those best practice guides to reflect Google’s deprecation of the noarchive feature.

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