Google Has Retired FAQ Rich Results and the Search Console Tools That Tracked Them

The Situation

If you built FAQ pages to win Google's expandable question boxes, that payoff is gone. The dropdown disappeared from live results on May 7, 2026, Search Engine Journal reported. Google's deprecation notice, as quoted by Search Engine Journal, scheduled the FAQ report and Rich Results Test support to go in June and set an August 2026 end for Search Console API access to FAQ data. The feature had been shrinking since 2023.

The Facts

Google's deprecation notice, as quoted by Search Engine Journal, reads in part: "We will be dropping the FAQ search appearance, rich result report, and support in the Rich results test in June 2026." The same notice sets an August 2026 cutoff for Search Console API access to FAQ data. The dropdown itself vanished from live results earlier.

FAQ rich results stopped appearing in search results on May 7, Search Engine Journal reported. Google published no separate blog post explaining the move; the documentation update is the only public reasoning offered. The pullback started three years ago.

In August 2023, Google limited FAQ rich results to "well-known, authoritative government and health websites" and deprecated HowTo rich results on mobile in the same move, according to Search Engine Journal. Passionfruit's review of the pattern notes HowTo lost its desktop spot the following month, and Google retired seven more structured data types in June 2025 — Book Actions, Course Info, Claim Review, Estimated Salary, Learning Video, Special Announcement, and Vehicle Listing — because usage and user value had fallen off. Search Engine Journal said the May change appears to end eligibility for the government and health sites that had remained eligible.

Existing FAQ markup doesn't need to come down. Google's documentation states unused structured data doesn't cause problems for Search, and FAQPage remains a valid Schema.org type. Whether FAQ schema still helps a page surface in AI Overviews or chatbot answers remains unclear.

Passionfruit's review calls that question contested and worth treating carefully. The deprecation notice speaks only to visible Search results.

Business Impact

Dealers who built FAQ pages to win extra space in search results were optimizing for a feature that's gone. The useful shift now is in the writing. Content shaped to trigger a dropdown reads differently from content that answers a customer's question directly, and direct answers are what people and AI answer engines still read.

What this means for your business: 1. FAQ pages built only to trigger the old rich result no longer serve a search-visibility purpose. 2. Any dashboard that pulled FAQ metrics through the Search Console API needs a new data source. 3. FAQPage markup can stay on your site; Google says unused structured data causes no problems for Search. 4. Plain question-and-answer text serves readers and AI systems alike.

Key Takeaways

• The FAQ dropdown and the tools that tracked it are being retired, so FAQ schema no longer earns extra space in Google results.
• Keep the markup if you like, and rewrite the answers for customers. That is what people and AI answer engines read.

Action Steps

1. 1.This week, have whoever manages your website check that your FAQPage markup still matches the questions and answers on the page, and fix any mismatch.
2. 2.Before the heating-season rush, rewrite FAQ sections as plain question headings with complete answers in the visible text.
3. 3.Move any FAQ performance tracking into your regular Search Console query and page reports.
4. 4.If a dashboard or export pulled FAQ data through the Search Console API, ask your web vendor this month to repoint it or retire it.

Competitive Advantage

Dealers who rewrite FAQ content for direct answers now get pages that serve customers and AI answer engines right away. Competitors who leave stale schema in place keep optimizing for a feature Google retired in May.