Unsearchable Web Assets

This is specifically related to many of the free assets available on Roll20, while I am uncertain as of when the change exactly happens it seems another batch of assets have been 'lost' to the search engine. These assets seem to still exist as they persist on maps where they have already been placed, however looking for them using the prompts which formerly worked doesn't seem to bring them up any more. As I'm uncertain as to if this is something Roll20 has intentionally done due to licensing issues with the assets or if this is some issue which has arisen due to changes to the asset search function I chose to post this here. While there are certain workarounds for those of us which want to keep using these assets, it's obviously a bit inconvenient and makes mapping more tedious for both free and paid users alike to lose access to these assets without warning. If this is some manner of issue with Roll20 being able to serve these assets during searches, I'd be curious to hear a response even if nothing can be done about the issue. While I'm aware users can preserve assets using the 'Copy to Library' function. I'm uncertain if using the 'Copy to Library' function on assets accrues user space, though presuming it does then I'd say having to spare some of the space I am paying for to secure copies of these ostensibly free assets for fear they will suddenly vanish one day is a bit of a nuisance. Overall I believe this may be an issue in the search engine however; as the items lost seem to be arbitrary without a clear trend.

Hi Dio,  The search engine is not Roll20's, it is Google's. I doubt there is anything to do with licensing.  Sometimes the external websites go down, or have issues. Sometimes Roll20 has difficulty with external images.  Because of that the best practice is to search for images outside of Roll20, save and then upload them to Roll20. This prevents things like the external website going down, or Roll20 having difficulty with the external images.  With all that said, if you'd like to file a bug report your best bet is to use the Help Center as the Bug Report forum is primarily users helping users. 

Yeah, if that's the case then it's a bit of a shame to lose more of our free repertoire. Many of the assets we've got are associated with Dundjinni which went down a long while ago though, so it always feels arbitrary when we lose access to these legacy assets. It feels as though it doesn't make sense we're losing them in a way, as if Dundjinni is already long since down where exactly are we losing them from? ...

Dio G. said: Yeah, if that's the case then it's a bit of a shame to lose more of our free repertoire. Many of the assets we've got are associated with Dundjinni which went down a long while ago though, so it always feels arbitrary when we lose access to these legacy assets. It feels as though it doesn't make sense we're losing them in a way, as if Dundjinni is already long since down where exactly are we losing them from? ... It goes to how the internet works. Google keeps a lot of those resources as cached data, until they don't. It is like a deleted image in Roll20. You delete the image from your Art Library but then you still see it as your token. However, it isn't actually there, it is in your cache until you clear the cache. Ultimately, if you want to have access to an image, you should have that image in a place you control, like your hard drive.

The thing is, they must still exist? Either Roll20 itself has a cache of these images to pull on when putting them onto an existing map or they wouldn't be able to load at all if the host-site deleted them. They haven't been deleted, they're just not available to search any more. The only issue these images are having is that they aren't searchable all of a sudden any more; but they must still exist in some capacity wherever they are being hosted or like with a deleted Roll20 image they just wouldn't load on the maps themselves. So what gives?

Dio G. said: The thing is, they must still exist? Either Roll20 itself has a cache of these images to pull on when putting them onto an existing map or they wouldn't be able to load at all if the host-site deleted them. They haven't been deleted, they're just not available to search any more. The only issue these images are having is that they aren't searchable all of a sudden any more; but they must still exist in some capacity wherever they are being hosted or like with a deleted Roll20 image they just wouldn't load on the maps themselves. So what gives? Again, this is not Roll20, it is Google. Google maintains cached versions of a large section of the internet. Ever search for something on Google see an image of it, then click the link only to find it is dead? That is a cached version of the image. I don't know what criteria Google uses to stop providing a cached search result, but there must be some criteria.  As for things not being searchable but still being usable in Roll20. Again, this is the difference between Roll20 and Google. Google may not provide results for it anymore but Roll20 is going the direct route. Additionally, Roll20 is using a Google plugin, it may have limitations that Google itself doesn't have. Perhaps it is timing out? Go to Google and search it directly.  As I said earlier, if you feel there is a bug your best bet is to file a report with the Devs via the Help Center . I am just a user like yourself.