A search query containing one or more terms is received from a client system. In response to receiving the search query, one or more snippets obtained in response to a prior execution of said search query are requested from a cache. For a respective snippet received from the cache, it is determined whether the respective snippet is a current version. In response to a determination that the respective snippet is not the current version, the current version of the respective snippet is obtained from a corresponding document in which one or more terms from said search query are located and the snippet stored in the cache is updated using the obtained current version. Search query results including the respective snippet are transmitted to the client.