“over 90% of my work from then has disappeared,” What! Are you saying that their index, that begins and ends in January 2001, does NOT have your articles written before or after that date? I’m shocked!

“And, as far as Google 2008 is concerned those stories don’t exist.” This has nothing to do with Google. They don’t exist because the sites that had stored them have pulled them down. It ain’t Google’s fault for that happening. So you should have said “And, as far as today’s search engines are concerned those stories don’t exist.”

I agree that “web rot” occurs, but don’t imply that Google is the cause. And yes, I know you clarify this later in your article, but mud sticks so be careful.

“I have no doubt that there have been many more successful examples” However, why were these attempts doomed to failure? Because other people, like yourself, care and are vigiliant.

“The real truth is that … you can’t trust the Web.” Thank the Lord we have you to tell us the Real Truth ™. But what does it mean “can’t trust” – if it means you cannot have 100% absolute certainty of completeness and accuracy, then of what media form can you trust? None, I’d say. The source of information (i.e. authors) is a guide (and only a guide) of its trustworthness. And when applied to the Web (blogs, news, ‘pedias, articles) we must be more wary but only because there is a lower barrier to publishing nowadays than in the past. I trust my local newspaper about as much as I trust the Web news.