The Wayback Machine, managed by the Internet Archive, serves as an essential resource for preserving the internet, documenting approximately 500 million webpages each day. Recently, however, a report from Nieman Lab has pointed out a notable reduction in the archiving of specific websites, especially those related to news. Between January 1 and May 15, 2025, the Wayback Machine recorded 1.2 million snapshots from the homepages of 100 leading news sites, but this figure plummeted to only 148,628 from May 17 to October 1, 2025, marking an 87 percent decline.

For example, CNN’s homepage was captured 34,524 times from January 1 to May 15, yet only 1,903 times afterward. In July, Mashable disclosed that the Internet Archive, following a new designation by California Senator Alex Padilla, will become part of a network exceeding 1,000 libraries that archive government publications.

Mark Graham, the Wayback Machine’s director, attributed the drop to failures in particular archiving initiatives in May, which resulted in fewer records for certain sites. He mentioned that some absent snapshots are awaiting index restructuring and will be incorporated soon. Though delays caused by index problems are uncommon, operational reasons such as resource distribution have led to setbacks. The Internet Archive’s expenditures for 2023 reached $32.7 million, while revenue stood at $23 million, underscoring financial difficulties. Furthermore, a major data breach in October last year took the site offline, necessitating weeks for recovery.