Google officially announced on Twitter on August 2nd, 2021 that they have removed the generic rich result type from the Google Search Console performance reports and API.
Google told us this was going to happen back in May and on 2nd August it was done.
Reminder: “We will keep supporting the search appearance until August 1, 2021. Following that date, it will no longer be available in Search Console or the API.”
That was yesterday!👋 https://t.co/c9OCdhqwT7— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) August 2, 2021
Table of Contents
Why Did Google Remove Rich Result Filter Type From The Performance Reports
Google already gave us hints in May that this filter would be removed soon.
Now, why did this happen?
According to Google, this filter already had breakout filters and reports for most of the individual rich results, such as event rich results, how to rich results, and many others, so this would not be considered as a real loss in reporting.
What it looks like:
After August 1st, we will not be able to see a search appearance filter for “rich results”.
Instead, you will only see specific rich results types that you have qualified for under the search appearance filter.
Google,
A few years ago we created a generic “Rich results” search appearance group that included multiple rich result types, including those that didn’t have their own breakout row on Search Console. This is not required anymore, since we now have breakouts for most rich result types, for example: Event, FAQ, HowTo, and more.
Grouping data for all rich results was never an ideal solution, but it was the only solution available at that time when granular reporting was not available, as each filter type shows significantly different behavior.
Presently, Google supports 19 search appearance types in performance to help website owners understand how their websites perform in Google Search.
If a website is eligible for multiple rich result types, then combining all impression data into one metric is not all that useful for the site owner.
Therefore, they have decided to sunset the Rich result search appearance.
Google Removes Rich Result :Conclusion
The removal of the rich results search appearance does not affect traffic and no changes to the rankings in any way; it is only a reporting change.
Website owners will not lose any kind of data, as the performance report in Search Console will continue to show data on individual rich result types in their own breakout rows.
