Google Search gets an unusual update that could prove controversial

Google has announced that it's going to strip away a small but sometimes useful feature from its search results - sitelink search. This feature has let users search within certain sites when they come up in search results.

It's a great way to refine your results if you know that you're looking for a particular site's article, for example, without relying on internal search systems that can be a little flaky in some cases. If you're still scratching your head as to what I'm talking about, check the image below for clarity.

Google says that it's going to strip away that box in all countries and languages on 21 November 2024, in a month's time. It's the latest tweak to the search experience, which has changed pretty rapidly over the last year or so.

After all, it's only been a short while since we all started to get used to the addition of AI overviews of results at the top of many searches. These summaries can be helpful but are attracting plenty of criticism for their occasionally flat-out wrong information.

Google doesn't tend to axe features like the sitelink search box without good reason, and the fact that it's cited low usage means that few people will probably even notice the box disappearing in late November. There could well be bigger changes to come, too, with deeper integration for Gemini and other AI tools doubtless on Google's agenda.

The search experience isn't even really just a text-based one anymore, thanks to the arrival of features like Circle to Search, which lets certain high-powered Android phones rely on simply drawing a circle around any visual element on your screen to initiate a search. Just like with sitelinks, only Google probably knows how many people have actually been using that feature, though.

If you are one of the world's sitelink gurus, then, you've got a month left to get your searches in, before that sort of refinement becomes ever so slightly more complicated. After all, you can still limit your Google searches to a specific site in the actual main search box, by adding "site:T3.com" to the beginning of your search, for example, and then typing your search query.