Google told us that the Sitelinks search box would stop working within Google Search on November 21st. Well, it finally stopped working a week later on November 27th, in the afternoon.
Google wrote back then, "It's been over ten years since we initially announced the sitelinks search box in Google Search, and over time, 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."
When I asked John Mueller of Google about the delay, he responded on Bluesky saying, "Sometimes the actual removal takes a bit longer, that's why I mentioned "starting Nov 21". It almost sounds like you don't like them :-). I'm not sure if it'll happen this week (considering it's Friday), so let's see how Monday goes."
Well, it took a few more days but on Wednesday, Google got rid of it.
Here is what it looked like:
Here is what it looked like starting on Wednesday afternoon:
"This doesn't affect rankings or sitelinks otherwise, and won't be listed in the Search status dashboard," Google added.
So anyway, it is now gone and if you want to do searches in specific sites, either use the site's internal search box or do a manual site command.
Here is a RankRanger chart showing the Sitelinks search box are fully gone:
RIP Google Sitelinks Search Box
— Shay Harel (@RangerShay) November 28, 2024
As of today, Google has officially removed the sitelinks search box feature due to declining usage. This change affects search results globally, across all languages and countries. pic.twitter.com/Vv8JFOIs6n
Forum discussion at Bluesky.
Update: And later on today, Google removed the sitelinks search box documentation.
