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Google to Phase Out Search Features, Leaving seos in the Dark
Google has announced it will be removing a number of search features over the coming months, with a full list of changes remaining undisclosed. The tech giant plans to discontinue support for some currently utilized structured data types used for rich results in Google Search, alongside several existing search features, perhaps impacting website visibility and user experience.
The move follows a similar reduction in search features back in June, though Google did, at that time, document the specific changes. Later, the company confirmed the removal of those previously identified structured data types.
According to John Mueller, a Search Advocate at Google, the company is beginning to phase out “lesser-used features.” “This update will simplify the page and improve the speed of search results,” Mueller wrote, adding that the changes are “part of our ongoing work to make sure we’re helping you find what you need as efficiently as possible, and we’ll continue to look for ways to make Search work better for you.”
However, Google has not yet specified which structured data types are slated for removal. Mueller clarified that support will be removed from Search Console and its API starting in January 2026.
A Google spokesperson indicated that this is not a complete overhaul of structured data and rich results. The company will be deprecating practice problems structured data, and confirmed that Dataset structured data is exclusively used by Dataset Search, not google Search itself. Notably, Google has undeprecated book actions as some features within Google Search still utilize this markup.
Specifically, Google has announced the removal of several features including the “today’s Doodle” box, nutrition facts, nearby offers and events, local bikeshare station status, and a TV season selector.
google emphasized that this is not an exhaustive list, but rather examples of “small, organizational elements of the page that were rarely used and in many instances didn’t have official names.”
Why This Matters for SEO
These changes could necessitate the removal of unsupported code from webpages. Consequently,a website’s click-through rates from Google Search could be negatively affected,and familiar search features may disappear.Without a comprehensive list of impacted features, predicting the exact consequences remains difficult. While the full scope of the changes is unknown, industry experts hope the impact on individual sites will be minimal.
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This article was written by Barry Schwartz, a technologist and Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, and a member of the programming team for SMX events. Schwartz owns RustyBricka, a New York-based web consulting firm, and also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular blog covering advanced SEM topics. He received the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land in 2019,was named “US Search Personality Of The Year” by the US Search Awards in 2018,and was listed as a top 50 most influential PPCer by Marketing O’Clock
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