Google is Dropping the Sitelinks Search Box Feature
Bhavesh Valand
Digital Marketing Head : Project Manager @Pixielit Studios | Certified in Google, Microsoft, HubSpot | Organizer of Google ML Community Gandhinagar (TFUG) and WordPress Developer Group Gandhinagar
Google is saying goodbye to the Sitelinks Search Box, which is the little search box you might have seen under certain search results, letting you search a specific site or app directly from Google. This feature, which has been around for about 10 years, will be phased out globally in all languages and regions starting November 21, 2024.
What is the Sitelinks Search Box? The Sitelinks Search Box is a handy tool that allows people to search within your site or app right from the search results page. It comes with real-time suggestions and other helpful features, according to Google.
Why is it being removed? In a blog post on the Search Central site, Google explained that the Sitelinks Search Box wasn’t being used much anymore. Google said, "Over time, we’ve noticed that usage has dropped," so to keep things simple, they’ll be removing this visual element starting in November. The removal will roll out globally across all search results, regardless of language or country.
Does this affect my rankings? Nope, this change doesn’t impact your search rankings or any other sitelinks in search results. Google clarified, "This doesn’t affect rankings or sitelinks otherwise, and won’t be listed in the Search status dashboard."
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More changes Along with removing the feature, Google will stop supporting the Sitelinks Search Box markup in the Search Console’s rich results report, and they’ll also stop showing it in the Rich Results Test.
You can remove the structured data from your site if you want, but Google says there’s no need to. Unsupported structured data won’t cause any issues or errors in your Search Console reports. Google also mentioned that site names still use a version of the WebSite structured data, which will continue to be supported.
Why this matters The Sitelinks Search Box was a quick way for users to search your site directly from Google’s search results. While Google says it wasn’t being used much anymore, if you did rely on this feature, you might notice a difference when it’s gone. If you’re concerned about this change, it might be a good idea to make the search feature on your website more visible to your users.