Google Shutdown: Farewell & Sitelinks Search Box Feature
Google has announced that it will retire the sitelinks search box feature, which has been a part of search results for more than a decade. As of November 21, 2024, this visual element will be removed globally across all languages and regions. The decision stems from a decline in its usage, and Google’s broader effort to streamline and simplify search results.
What is the Sitelinks Search Box?
The sitelinks search box allowed users to search within a specific website directly from the search results page, offering a more tailored search experience. However, as user interaction with this feature has waned over the years, Google is phasing it out to enhance the clarity of search results.
Impact on Website Owners and SEO
Google clarified that this change will not affect search rankings or other sitelinks features. Additionally, it will not be reflected in the Search status dashboard, ensuring that the sitelinks feature remains intact outside of the search box functionality. Alongside this change:
- The Search Console rich results report for the sitelinks search box will be discontinued.
- The Rich Results Test tool will no longer highlight sitelinks search box structured data.
Do You Need to Remove the Sitelinks Search Box Structured Data?
There’s no need for webmasters to remove the sitelinks search box structured data from their sites. Unsupported structured data won’t cause any issues with Google Search, nor will it trigger errors in Google Search Console.
However, for those who prefer to remove the structured data, it’s worth noting that Google’s site names feature still relies on a variation of the WebSite structured data, which will continue to be supported.
Key Takeaways for Webmasters:
- Global and Universal Change: The removal applies to all search results globally, regardless of language or country.
- No Ranking Effect: The sitelinks search box removal will not impact search rankings or SEO performance.
- No Urgent Action Required: Websites can keep the sitelinks search box structured data without any negative effects on their SEO or indexing.
Conclusion
While the sitelinks search box will soon be a thing of the past, Google’s search results will remain as powerful as ever. For website owners, there’s no need for concern—your existing structured data and SEO practices will remain unaffected by this update. This change marks a step toward simpler, cleaner search result pages while maintaining the integrity of key structured data like site names.
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