Perhaps it was so well integrated that it ended up becoming part of the decor. Located under the main link of a site in the search results, it allowed you to refine a search directly on the site in question. This integrated bar, the Mountain View giant decided to separate from November 21, 2024. It was compatible with most browsers available on the market: Google Chrome of course, Opera or Firefox.
A disappearance amid general indifference
Google justifies this decision by less and less frequent use of this tool. A bit like a button on a remote control that you don’t notice until you need it. “ It’s been over a decade since we first announced the sitelinks search bar in Google Search, and over time we’ve seen its usage decline. For this reason, and in order to simplify search results, we have decided to remove this visual element » explained the company.
This search bar, which appeared under certain sites, like Lemon Squeezer for example (see image above), provided a convenient shortcut for exploring the content of a specific site without accessing it directly. Having become familiar to some frequent users, it will not have withstood the evolution of browsing habits. The withdrawal will apply simultaneously in all countries and for all languages.
A change revealing new priorities
This disappearance is witness to a new strategy from Google, which aims to purify its search interface. In the midst of reorganizing its team dedicated to Search, the firm is investing colossal sums in artificial intelligence. By leveraging this technology, Google seeks to improve the relevance of search results and offer more personalized features, such as AI Overview for example.
It must be said that the arrival of generative AI and the surge of chatbots has completely turned the search for information on the web upside down. Thanks to these, we are allowed to ask questions in a natural way, as we would in a real-world conversation. This necessarily makes research more intuitive and accessible to a wider audience. However, this wind of change requires, even for the leader in online search, to turn your sails in the right direction.
- Google is removing the sitelinks search bar from November 21, 2024 because the tool was no longer used enough.
- This feature made it possible to search directly on specific sites via Google results.
- This withdrawal is part of a strategy to simplify the search interface and integrate more features based on artificial intelligence.
