Google Retires Programmable Search Engine's Full Web Search, Pushes Partners to Vertex AI

Google has announced a sweeping overhaul of its Programmable Search Engine (PSE) platform, effectively ending its era as a tool for querying the entire web. In a series of updates culminating in a January 2026 announcement, the company is steering its partners toward a bifurcated future: a simplified, free tier for basic site search and a mandatory migration to Google Cloud's Vertex AI Search for advanced needs. This shift, with a hard deadline of January 1, 2027, will impact hundreds of partners—from academic institutions to retail websites—that have relied on PSE to power search on their own domains.

The core of the change is the retirement of the "Search the entire web" option within PSE. For years, the platform allowed developers to create custom search engines that could index a specific set of sites or, crucially, the entire internet. This made it a versatile tool for niche content aggregators, research portals, and community sites. Moving forward, new search engines created after the announcement date must use the "Sites to search" feature, which is limited to a maximum of 50 domains. Existing engines using the full web search option can continue until the 2027 deadline, but no new ones can be created.

This simplification creates a clearer, but more restrictive, path for developers. The primary offering is now the Programmable Search Element, a streamlined tool for creating rich, focused search experiences on a single website or a small cluster of related domains. It remains free for searches across up to 50 domains. For partners whose needs exceed this limit or who require the full web index, Google is directing them to its enterprise-grade solution: Google Vertex AI Search.

The migration to Vertex AI Search is not merely a change of product name; it represents a significant technological and financial shift. Google began this transition in earnest in late 2023, announcing that the Custom Search Site Restricted JSON API—the programmatic interface for PSE—would cease serving traffic on January 8, 2025. All customers using that API were required to move to Vertex AI Search to maintain their site search functionality.

Google's rationale for the move centers on the integration of advanced AI features. Vertex AI Search offers capabilities that the legacy PSE platform lacks, including:

• Generative AI features: Summarization of search results and handling of multi-turn conversational queries.
• Improved performance: Enhanced latency and broader domain coverage for site-specific searches.
• Reverse image search: A capability not present in the standard PSE offering.
• Vertex AI integration: Seamless connection to the broader Vertex AI ecosystem, including the ability to build search into LLM-powered extensions.

In its 2023 announcement, Google stated that Vertex AI Search "will generally be more cost-effective and offer better value" for customers. However, the pricing model differs significantly. While PSE was largely free for moderate usage (with quotas), Vertex AI Search is a paid Google Cloud service, with costs based on the number of queries, index size, and specific features used. For many small to medium-sized websites, this introduces a new operational expense that did not exist before.

The transition is not limited to the full web search. Even for site-restricted search, Google is pushing partners toward Vertex AI Search as the "favorable alternative" for up to 50 domains. The company has provided detailed transition guidance and support, framing the move as an evolution toward more powerful, focused tools.

This restructuring is part of a longer-term modernization effort. Google has been steadily deprecating legacy components of PSE for years. In 2022, it retired the Popular Queries JavaScript API and launched a new control panel, which itself was retired in 2023 in favor of the current interface. The addition of 32 new languages in April 2024 was one of the last major updates to the legacy PSE platform before this strategic pivot.

For developers and organizations currently using PSE, the path forward requires a decision. Those with simple, focused site search needs can continue with the simplified Programmable Search Element. For everyone else, the choice is between migrating to Vertex AI Search or seeking an alternative solution entirely. The January 2027 deadline provides a multi-year runway, but the technical and financial implications are substantial, marking the end of a chapter for one of the web's most accessible custom search tools and its integration into Google's broader, AI-driven enterprise cloud strategy.

Relevant URLs:

• Programmable Search Engine Help Center
• Google Cloud Vertex AI Search Documentation
• Programmable Search Engine Transition Guidance (Note: This link is illustrative; specific transition pages are linked within Google's announcements.)