76.7% of old web links are dead: a 657,607-link autopsy
Where did the old web go? We followed 657,607 links to find out
A restored 0.mk database from 2009–2014 held 657,607 short links. Following every destination in August 2026, 76.7% of crawlable records no longer loaded. The data reveals the fragility of the small web: personal blogs, forums, and local news vanished at far higher rates than platforms like YouTube and Wikipedia. The article also uncovers gems like the first link ever shortened (a CSS stylesheet) and a link to localhost that got two clicks.
A working page does not mean the original content is still there.
- MetaWhirledPeas
Here's a contrarian timeline: maybe the old web will return? My reasoning: when the "old web" was great, most people thought the internet was for nerds. Sure even casual users would forward funny emails to their friends, but when it came time for news most people would read the paper or watch the nightly broadcast. When they paid for their Big Mac they'd lay down cash. There were plenty of people using the internet, but again, they were nerds or nerd-adjacent. So, maybe the LLM-ification of everything could end up being like a huge filter, where all the non-nerds no longer see the point of anything and move on to gardens with even higher walls. And then what you have left will be a small subset of people who know how to reach their desired corners of the internet, just like before.
- morganf
I'd define it as the web until the time that Facebook truly took off and conquered the hearts and minds of so many (that was the first huge shot in the losing war of the old web). For example, a key part of the old web was what used to be called the "blogosphere", and the blog's height was those final years before FB (in the ascendancy) and the first years of the FB era (descendancy).
- jperras
I would posit that "old web" could be defined as the period before Google Search became public (<~1997).
But maybe that's more a measure of my own age and perceptions rather than an accurate representation of the various eras of the internet/web...
- bradley13
2009-2014? That's not the old web. Or I'm old. Take your pick.
- z_rho_one
Remember the good ol' days when we all thought that everything on the web would exist for eternity and over.
- mryall
Quite ironic that a link shortener which went offline for a decade or so is now posting about other sites not staying online.
0.mk, you had one job…
- Anon4Now
When I think of "old web", I always think of "Britney Spears' Guide to
Semiconductor Physics". Thankfully, it still lives:
- 6c696e7578
It seems putting anything on the web that allows submit is screaming to get spammed these days. Is there any sort of spam filter that's worth using?