Knowledge Panels and other widgets are a big part of what set Google Search apart from competitors, but one of those features will soon disappear. The “Q&A” widget for Google Search will be removed in late June.
On a support page, Google explains that it will shut down its community-driven Q&A feature within Search on June 30. The feature allows users to leave their own answers for commonly searched questions and started showing up as far back as 2018.
As of June 30, 2021, we’ll no longer offer the ask and answer feature on Google Search. To download a copy of the questions and answers you’ve contributed, visit Google Takeout and select Search contributions. Complete this step by June 30 to create a record of all your contributions, including your questions and answers.
You’ll be quick to be forgiven if you’ve never come across this feature. While it sounds very useful, Google only shipped the feature widely in India, as SearchEngineLand verifies. The feature, pictured below as it looked in 2019, was popular in the region but could be replaced by “Question Hub.” That tool, currently available in beta, will see wider availability in Search. Question Hub collects unanswered questions generated by users and provides insights for that content to publishers and content creators with verified websites.
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