Google to remove Sitelinks Search Box

Google has announced plans to remove the sitelinks search box feature from its search results, marking the end of an era for a tool that has been part of the search landscape for over a decade. The change, set to take effect on November 21, 2024, aims to simplify search results and reflects declining usage of the feature.

What is the Sitelinks Search Box?

The sitelinks search box, initially introduced in 2014, appears in Google search results when users search for a specific company or website. It allows users to perform a site-specific search directly from Google's search results page, potentially streamlining the process of finding content on a particular website.

Why is Google making this change?

According to Google's announcement on October 21, 2024, the decision to remove the sitelinks search box is based on two primary factors:

1. Declining Usage: Over time, Google has observed a drop in the utilization of this feature.
2. Simplification of Search Results: The removal is part of Google's ongoing efforts to streamline and simplify the search experience for users.

Impact on website owners and users

The removal of the sitelinks search box will have several implications:

• Global Impact: This change will affect search results worldwide, across all languages and countries.
• No Effect on Rankings: Google has stated that this update will not impact search rankings or the other sitelinks visual elements.
• Structured Data: While website owners can remove the sitelinks search box structured data from their sites, Google has clarified that there is no immediate need to do so. Unsupported structured data will not cause issues in Search or trigger errors in Search Console reports.

Timeline and implementation

Key dates and actions related to this change include:

• Announcement Date: October 21, 2024
• Effective Date: November 21, 2024
• Search Console Updates: Following the removal, Google will discontinue the Search Console rich results report for the sitelinks search box and stop highlighting related markup in the Rich Results Test.

Technical details

For website owners and developers who have implemented the sitelinks search box feature, here are some technical considerations:

• Structured Data: The feature uses a modified WebSite structured data type, which includes properties like potentialAction, url, and @type.
• No Action Required: Website owners do not need to remove existing structured data related to the sitelinks search box.
• Site Names Feature: The WebSite structured data used for site names will continue to be supported.

Historical context

The sitelinks search box was introduced on September 5, 2014, as an improvement to help users reach specific content on websites directly through site-search pages. At the time, Google provided implementation details for website owners to markup their sites using schema.org/WebSite entity with the potentialAction property of the schema.org/SearchAction markup.

What this means for search

The removal of the sitelinks search box represents a shift in Google's approach to search results presentation. While it simplifies the search interface, it also removes a direct pathway for users to access site-specific search functions from the Google results page. This change may prompt website owners to reconsider their on-site search capabilities and how they guide users to content.

Key takeaways

• Google will remove the sitelinks search box from search results on November 21, 2024.
• The decision is based on declining usage and aims to simplify search results.
• This change will not affect search rankings or other sitelinks features.
• Website owners do not need to remove existing structured data related to the sitelinks search box.
• The removal reflects evolving user behavior and Google's ongoing refinement of the search experience.