Google shouldn't be the center of the Web. They could also easily determine where the archive link is pointing to and not penalize. But I guess making sure we align with Google's incentives is more important than just using the Web.
It's not a strawman because (a) I agreed with you, (b) context, and (c) I asked a question based on what you seemed to be implying in that context: a question to which you still haven't provided an answer.
Let me put it another way: what specifically are you suggesting as an alternative?
If I had to pick a solution from what's available right now technology wise I'd pick something that links based on content hashes. And then pulls the content from decentralized hosting.
I don't think I like IPFS as an organization, but tech wise it's probably what I'd go with.
> But I guess making sure we align with Google's incentives is more important than just using the Web.
It's not about Google's incentives. It's about directing the traffic where it should go. Google is just the means to do so.
Build an alternative, I'm sure nobody wants Google to be the number one way of finding content, it's just that they are, so pretending they're not and doing something that will hurt your ability to have your content found isn't productive.
Every search engine uses the number of backlinks as one of the key factors in influencing search rank; it's a fundamental KPI when it comes to understanding whether a link is credible.
What is true for Google in this regard is also true of Bing, DDG and Yandex.
