Google completes removal of FAQ rich results, publishers lose expandable FAQ snippets

Google’s FAQ rich results are basically gone now. Those were the expandable question-and-answer snippets that used to sit under a normal search listing and take up extra space on the page. If you run a publisher, affiliate site, or brand content hub, this matters because it removes one of the cleaner ways to win more real estate in search without ranking a whole extra page. The visual loss isn’t even the whole story — Google is also winding down the reporting and tooling around it. ### What exactly disappeared? FAQ rich results were the dropdown-style boxes Google could attach to a result when a page used FAQPage structured data. A user could tap a question and reveal the answer right on the search page. That made some listings look bigger, more interactive, and more authoritative than the plain blue-link version sitting next to them. Google’s current documentation now says FAQ rich results are only available for well-known, authoritative government-focused or health-focused sites — which is Google’s way of saying ordinary publishers are out. (searchenginejournal.com) ### Didn’t Google already kill this before? Mostly, yes. The big rollback started in August 2023, when Google said FAQ rich results would be “sharply reduced” and shown only for those narrow government and health categories. So for a lot of SEO teams, the traffic and visibility hit happened years ago. What changed now is that Google has completed the cleanup around the feature, including the remaining Search Console and API support tied to deprecated rich result types. (developers.google.com) ### Why does the reporting shutdown matter? Because tools shape behavior. Even after a feature becomes rare, people keep shipping markup if Search Console still reports on it, if dashboards still chart it, and if APIs still expose it. Google is ending FAQ rich result reporting in Search Console in June 2026, with API support following in August 2026. That means teams lose not just the visible snippet, but also the official feedback loop that told them whether Google still cared. (searchenginejournal.com) ### Should publishers strip FAQ schema now? Not necessarily. Google’s documentation still supports FAQPage structured data in a limited sense, and keeping clean structured data on a page usually doesn’t hurt if the content genuinely matches the markup. But the old growth hack — add a stack of FAQs and hope Google gives you a bigger listing — is dead for almost everyone. The catch is that schema can still help machines understand content even when it no longer unlocks a flashy search treatment. (searchenginejournal.com) ### So what replaces the old tactic? The obvious move is to stop treating FAQs as a SERP decoration and start treating them as content architecture. If users really ask those questions, build pages or sections that answer them clearly, with strong headings, concise responses, and real topical depth. Google still supports QAPage markup for pages that are actually question-and-answer forums or community discussions, but that is a different format with different eligibility rules. (developers.google.com) ### Why did Google do this? Google’s stated logic back in the 2023 change was to make search results “cleaner and more consistent.” The less polite interpretation is that FAQ markup became overused. Once every other site turns a normal listing into a mini accordion, the feature stops being useful and starts becoming clutter. Search results are now also competing for room with AI answers, shopping modules, video blocks, and other formats, so low-trust visual extras were always vulnerable. (developers.google.com) ### Who still benefits? Mostly public-health and government sites. That fits the current documentation exactly — Google still allows FAQ rich results for well-known, authoritative sites in those categories. Everyone else should assume zero visible upside unless they see evidence to the contrary in live search. That’s a much tighter gate than the old era, when publishers across recipes, finance, SaaS, and media all chased FAQ snippet coverage. (searchenginejournal.com) ### Bottom line? This is less a surprise than a final notice. Google didn’t just remove a snippet style — it closed the last operational traces of a once-common SEO playbook. If you publish on the open web, the safer bet now is simple: answer real questions well, but stop expecting FAQ markup itself to buy you extra space in Google. (searchenginejournal.com) (developers.google.com)