How could it be?

Page cached correctly after URL change

[a1call]

Hi,
I just made an interesting observation.
I recently changed the url formats of my subpages.
When I check the cache of at least one of these pages. Google correctly shows the cache it made with the old Url.
The new Url is completely different from the old one.
The title tags are the same. Isn't that unusual?

[vitaplease]

Sounds unusual.

You mean on top ot the Google cache of www.yourdomain.com/newurl.htm it shows:

This is G o o g l e's cache of h tp://www.yourdomain.com/oldurl.htm.

[shaadi]

That because Google use two servers independent of each other, one is the index server (uncompress data) and the other is doc index server which is use to fetch titles, description and snippet.

All you have to is use as Http / 1.1 301 (permanent redirect) from old URLs to the new ones to solve the problem.

HTH

[a1call]

Hi vitaplease,
I mean I go to
mydomain.com/veryshorturl
in google toolbar I check "cached snap shot of page"
and google shows the cache it made of:
mydomain.com/veryverylongurlIhad
Can not imagine what sort of algo or whatever could manage this. How would google relate the 2 pages?

[a1call]

Hi shaadi,
Thank you for the tip. Without going into details that won't work with my subpages without some reprogramming the old pages are not linked to anywhere in my site, but I still have some external backlinks to them. It does not cause any trouble. I just find it interesting that google has some mechanism of relating the caches it has with updated pages even when url formats have completely changed.

[shaadi]

I just find it interesting that google has some mechanism of relating the caches it has with updated pages even when url formats have completely changed.

Intresting! would like to know about it - any document which you have regarding this?

[whatley]

Something that I have seen.

One of my clients has had the cached page on google change twice over the weekend, they had a new site uploaded, then had it taken down the next day (don't ask me why). But the cached page changed as they upload the older version of the site.

I have had a new version of a site uploaded over 4 weeks ago, but it still hasn't had the cached paged updated. I have check the web logs and googlebots been seaching both sites over the weekend. Any ideas anyone why its cached the one site and not the other?

Both sites are of similar size and the URL's have been in use for well over 6 months.