Google Deprecates SiteLink Search Box

This month, Google has officially announced the deprecation of the SiteLink Search Box feature. This means that the small search bar that used to appear below certain website search results will no longer be available, starting Globally on November 21st, 2024. 

Historically, the SiteLink Search Box was a feature which allowed users to search within a specific website directly from Google Search results. It was often used for large websites with extensive content, such as government websites, news, and big e-commerce sites. 

While the exact reasons behind the decision for the deprecation are not entirely clear, Google posted the following statement on its update: 

“We’ve noticed that usage has dropped. With that, and to help simplify the search results, we’ll be removing this visual element starting on November 21, 2024.”

So why the drop in the use of this feature on Google? Google has not published any detail on the “why” behind the decline but of course us SEO professionals have drawn our own conclusions, and these two reasons seem most likely to underpin the decision.  

The growth of much more personalised search results

The improvement of the quality and personalised nature of Google’s search results have surely suppressed the need to search further within the search results. With most users more likely to head into the website itself to use inbuilt search functionality on the website’s homepage. As people who use the internet have come to expect large e-commerce sites, and news websites in particular, to offer us a search engine experience within their sites, so it seems likely that Google decided to not waste valuable space on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) offering the same option just for it to go unused as users’ behaviour changed over time. 

The rise in long-tail searches

Changes in how search engine users engage with the technology are likely another consideration for this decline. With the increased use of mobile devices and voice search, coupled with far more sophisticated search results, users have become savvy searchers and hone their queries to deliver the exact information they require. As search terms become longer and more specific, less further digging to find the information is needed, rendering the need for opportunities to search again, as the SiteLink Search Box offered.   

How does this change affect how we optimise for Google search?

The truth is, due to the key drivers likely being a change in search engine user behaviour, there is likely to be very little impact from this change. Beyond a small amount of user inconvenience and the possibility of a small decline in Click Through Rate IF the search box was recently well utilised, which we know is unlikely given Google’s standpoint, it seems safe to say you are unlikely to notice this change. 

There is, however, an upside. If something is removed, theoretically, there should be more space available within the SERP for additional organic search results or other SERP features. Perhaps a few more results will be pushed above the fold or require a little less scroll, which can only be a good thing as we are increasingly competing against featured snippets, suggested search options, and now also AI-Overviews.  

What do you need to do now SiteLink Search Boxes are leaving Google?

The advice from Google is, surprisingly, simple: 

“While you can remove SiteLinks Search Box structured data from your site, there’s no need to do so. Unsupported structured data like this won’t cause issues in Search, and won’t trigger errors in Search Console reports. If you decide to remove SiteLinks Search Box structured data, note that site names also uses a variation of WebSite structured data, which continues to be supported.”

That means there is no requirement to make any changes to your SEO practice to support your site’s SEO performance during this change to Google! As long as you are continuing to follow best practices, and ensuring that all your content decisions continue to prioritise delivering high-quality content that is aligned to the E-E-A-T ( Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) cornerstone of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, you can rest assured that you probably won’t even notice the change!

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