diff --git a/backend/functions/src/cloud-functions/crawler.ts b/backend/functions/src/cloud-functions/crawler.ts
index b968d7a..75561fd 100644
--- a/backend/functions/src/cloud-functions/crawler.ts
+++ b/backend/functions/src/cloud-functions/crawler.ts
@@ -53,8 +53,6 @@ export class CrawlerHost extends RPCHost {
 
     turnDownPlugins = [require('turndown-plugin-gfm').gfm];
 
-    imageShortUrlPrefix?: string;
-
     constructor(
         protected globalLogger: Logger,
         protected puppeteerControl: PuppeteerControl,
@@ -78,13 +76,13 @@ export class CrawlerHost extends RPCHost {
 
         let contentText = '';
         if (toBeTurnedToMd) {
-            const urlToAltMap: { [k: string]: { shortDigest: string, alt?: string; }; } = {};
+            const urlToAltMap: { [k: string]: string | undefined; } = {};
             const tasks = (snapshot.imgs || []).map(async (x) => {
-                const r = await this.altTextService.getAltTextAndShortDigest(x).catch((err)=> {
+                const r = await this.altTextService.getAltText(x).catch((err: any) => {
                     this.logger.warn(`Failed to get alt text for ${x.src}`, { err: marshalErrorLike(err) });
                     return undefined;
                 });
-                if (r) {
+                if (r && x.src) {
                     urlToAltMap[x.src.trim()] = r;
                 }
             });
@@ -103,7 +101,7 @@ export class CrawlerHost extends RPCHost {
                     const mapped = urlToAltMap[src];
                     imgIdx++;
                     if (mapped) {
-                        return `![Image ${imgIdx}: ${mapped.alt || alt}](${this.imageShortUrlPrefix ? `${this.imageShortUrlPrefix}/${mapped.shortDigest}` : src})`;
+                        return `![Image ${imgIdx}: ${mapped || alt}](${src})`;
                     }
                     return `![Image ${imgIdx}: ${alt}](${src})`;
                 }
@@ -115,7 +113,7 @@ export class CrawlerHost extends RPCHost {
         if (!contentText || (contentText.startsWith('<') && contentText.endsWith('>'))) {
             contentText = turnDownService.turndown(snapshot.html);
         }
-        if (!contentText || (contentText.startsWith('<') && contentText.endsWith('>'))) {
+        if (!contentText || (contentText.startsWith('<') || contentText.endsWith('>'))) {
             contentText = snapshot.text;
         }
 
diff --git a/backend/functions/src/services/alt-text.ts b/backend/functions/src/services/alt-text.ts
index c3dd5d9..6ebaf34 100644
--- a/backend/functions/src/services/alt-text.ts
+++ b/backend/functions/src/services/alt-text.ts
@@ -44,32 +44,33 @@ export class AltTextService extends AsyncService {
         }
     }
 
-    async getAltTextAndShortDigest(imgBrief: ImgBrief) {
+    async getAltText(imgBrief: ImgBrief) {
         if (!imgBrief.src) {
             return undefined;
         }
+        if (imgBrief.alt) {
+            return imgBrief.alt;
+        }
         const digest = md5Hasher.hash(imgBrief.src);
         const shortDigest = Buffer.from(digest, 'hex').toString('base64url');
 
         const existing = await ImgAlt.fromFirestore(shortDigest);
 
-        if (existing?.generatedAlt) {
-            return {
-                shortDigest,
-                alt: existing.generatedAlt,
-            };
+        if (existing) {
+            return existing.generatedAlt || existing.originalAlt || '';
         }
 
-        let generatedCaption;
+        let generatedCaption = '';
 
-        if (!imgBrief.alt) {
-            try {
-                generatedCaption = await this.caption(imgBrief.src);
-            } catch (err) {
-                this.logger.warn(`Unable to generate alt text for ${imgBrief.src}`, { err });
-            }
+        try {
+            generatedCaption = await this.caption(imgBrief.src);
+        } catch (err) {
+            this.logger.warn(`Unable to generate alt text for ${imgBrief.src}`, { err });
         }
 
+        // Don't try again until the next day
+        const expireMixin = generatedCaption ? {} : { expireAt: new Date(Date.now() + 1000 * 3600 * 24) };
+
         await ImgAlt.COLLECTION.doc(shortDigest).set(
             {
                 _id: shortDigest,
@@ -79,13 +80,11 @@ export class AltTextService extends AsyncService {
                 urlDigest: digest,
                 originalAlt: imgBrief.alt || '',
                 generatedAlt: generatedCaption || '',
-                createdAt: new Date()
+                createdAt: new Date(),
+                ...expireMixin
             }, { merge: true }
         );
 
-        return {
-            shortDigest,
-            alt: generatedCaption,
-        };
+        return generatedCaption;
     }
 }