I finally stopped using Google Maps for finding old websites

Back around 2018, I used to just type random keywords into Google to find forgotten sites from the late 90s. But around 2020, I noticed all the results were just top 10 listicles or dead link roundups from blogs. So now I dig through the Wayback Machine's top 25 lists from 2002 or browse old Geocities directories hosted on places like Neocities. The change happened when I tried finding a site called 'The Cheeseburger Network' that listed every fast food joint in Ohio from 1998. Google showed zero results, but the Wayback Machine had it cached with all 47 pages still working. Now I use text files saved from old forum posts that mention direct URLs. Has anyone else found that the big search engines basically ignore these older, smaller sites now?

2 comments

2 Comments

theagarcia4d ago

Wait, "47 pages still working" on a site from 1998? That's insane. I can barely find a saved MySpace layout from 2006 without broken images. The Wayback Machine is a treasure but I never thought to check their top 25 lists, that's clever.

umasullivan4d ago

lol right??? The Wayback Machine top 25 lists are gold mines. I found this one site from 2001 called "Bob's Guide to Weird Vending Machines" and it had photos of old cigarette machines that still worked. Some guy named Bob posted updates monthly for like 3 years then just stopped. No broken links, everything loaded perfect. Crazy how the random stuff people made back then survives better than corporate sites from the same era.