We have grown a lot since the Internet came into our lives, and this can also be applied to pages digital. Mainly because many of the old versions of websites today look unrecognizable and it could be said that they hide a dark past.
If you’re curious, there are tools very interesting that allow us to appeal to nostalgia and trace the old version of the best known websites. Since if a website is deleted, it is always possible to find its content again because those same platforms are dedicated to archive cached versions of pages that have already disappeared.
Wayback Machine: the best search engine to see old versions of websites
Although with Google you can also access cached versions, the best-known tool dedicated to these tasks is . This is a free web archive where you can find screenshots of old versions of websites in different periods of time.
This digital file is located within the project ‘The Internet Archive Project’ and has been operating since 1996. To date, it has already archived more than 325 billion of old versions of public access websites. In addition to old versions of websites, the project also collects texts and videos, audio recordings, videos and television productions, images and computer programs.
Old versions of known websites
To see the old versions of websites that are stored in the Wayback Machine, the easiest way is write the web address of the page you want to see on and then select the desired date.
In this way, we have taken a tour of the past of some of the best-known websites and the truth is that we have taken more than one surprise.
amazon
The truth is that the old versions of the Amazon websites they don’t differ too much of the page that currently exists. Because the substantial differences that can be seen are mainly due to the technological advance of web pages. In the image, we see a capture of the web 19 years ago (year 2000) that is not appreciated especially terrible to have spent so much time.
On the other hand, it is interesting to note that the website of amazon reflects well the evolution of the internet in the last 20 years. We can see that in the image of the year 2000, predominated above all the word (then the information age began). Today, as we all know and can see on the current Amazon website, the image has more prominence than the text.
eBay
The one that for many years was the great rival of Amazon at a popular level in eCommerce looked even… worse. This was this marketplace in 1999, full of huge blue links:
The country
From a modern perspective, this old version of the web page of The country of 1996 can be considered bleak. It is a clear example of much has changed in little more than two decades. Especially since they have learned to be more dynamic and more interactive with users
On the other hand, as is the case with Amazon, if we compare the old versions with the current one, we can guess that before the web pages were filled basically just text. Now this shares prominence with other elements such as image, video or audio.
In this analysis of old versions of websites, we do not want to forget about Google. Since in 20 years of life hardly any differences have been appreciated in its portal. Google’s design has always stood out for its simplicity and its minimalist touch, and we believe that part of its success is due to this. Here we see a capture of the Google of 1999.
Just by looking at the Linkedin login page in 2010, we can already see how it has qualitatively improved in 9 years the design of the professional social network.
Brand
Year after year, Marca.com is one of the references in sports news, not only in Spain but worldwide. Of course, although in 1999 football was still the great dominator, the appearance of its website was very different.
Marketing4eCommerce
And this is an old version of our website in our beginnings – because surely you were wondering. What is most surprising is the rapid evolution (for good) that we have suffered in just a few years. Can you imagine how we will be in 2025?
Telecinco
You probably want to run away when you see the Telecinco website from 2001. You will also find it impossible to find a minimum resemblance with the page that we can currently see.
Among the most surprising old versions of websites, we would like to highlight the Twitter from a few years ago. For example, this is the Twitter version of July 11, 2010. If it weren’t for the logo which occupies a good chunk of the page, would have been a little complicated determine that it is the social network of the little blue bird.
Obviously, at that time the number of users was very inferior and you can see that the old page was very simple and had quite a different layout. The page has managed to mature and now it looks more sophisticated and more complete with content.
Youtube
Didn’t you think the platform had changed so much since 2005?
Wikipedia
The exception that confirms the rule. We can only say that the 2007 Wikipedia is practically the same than the current Wikipedia.
If you want to take a look at the past of other web pages, you just have to press .
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