Google to Remove Sitelink Search Box by November 21, 2024

On Monday, October 21, 2024, Google announced it would end the use of the sitelink search box starting November 21, 2024. This feature will be phased out after over a decade of operation in the search engine.

Overview of the Sitelink Search Box

On September 5, 2014, Google announced the development of the sitelink search box designed to help users access specific content on a website directly from search results.

This search box will appear when users enter a company's name in the search bar, allowing them to find specific information on that company’s website.

In Google's previous algorithm, the search engine would display a series of site links and a search box beneath the search results when users searched for a particular company.

This way, users could perform a site: yoursite.com query directly from the search results.

Now, the search box is positioned above the sitelinks, features autocomplete, and can direct users straight to your site's search page (if you use the correct markup).

Updates on the Sitelinks Search Box 

After ten years of operation, Google will discontinue the Sitelinks Search Box feature starting November 21, 2024. This change will apply to all search results, languages, and regions worldwide.

Website owners need not worry about a drop in search rankings, as this change will not affect rankings or other visual elements of sitelinks. Additionally, this change will not be reflected in the Search Status Dashboard.

When Google removes this search box feature, it will also eliminate it from the rich results reports in the Search Console and stop highlighting its markup in the Rich Result Test.

Google has stated that website owners do not need to remove structured data associated with this search box, although they can choose to do so.

In cases of unsupported structured data, it will not impact search results or generate errors in the Search Console reports.

However, if you decide to remove structured data, be sure to use variations of the structured data for WebSite that are still supported for your site name.