Protect Your Content – Use noarchive
I have been pondering this move for the past few months and have finally came to the decision, it is best to use content="noarchive".
What is cache?
The noarchive tage, (<meta name="robots" content="noarchive" />) is used by search engines like Google to keep a copied version of your site so someone, if they wish, may view the page from their site and sticking a header above each page.
Why I decided to use noarchive...
My decision has come soon after reading a post on Webmaster World (well, kind of... Webmaster World was down at the time so the post is actually on Search Engine World)
Brett Tabke states, "under no circumstances should you ever alone anyone permission to copy your sites and content without payment. That is extra true when it is user generated content. You can't afford the liability and exposure to liability."
Which is true. Why let search engines copy our pages when no one else can? It is against our rights as citizens of this world. What good are they anyway?
Cache pages still show ads on our work, but many times are not relivent to the content, so no one actually clicks on the ad itself. The cache version also lets the search engine further use its branding while on our site by displaying the header on cache pages.
As Brett Tabke stated, it is even more important to use noarchive on user generated content. This is due to liability and exposure, if someone happens to spam or post a threat before you are able to moderate the act, it will be copied and placed in the search engine, therefor leaving you subject.
Protect yourself and your income, use noarchive.