March 2024 update

As of writing, I'm still experiencing the same issue so I'll be addressing the suggestions given by other users here.

Various links to other questions

In the answers and comments below, there have been various suggestions of other answered questions. However, none of them, including the one that this question was marked as a duplicate of, describe the same issue or offer a working solution.

Send feedback directly to Google through the form on the search page

I have sent feedback to Google multiple times, and have not gotten a response or seen a change in my experience of the Google search interface.

Is this a Google Live Experiment?

In the past, I've noticed what I've suspected to be Google Live Experiments (Google's name for A/B testing). In my experience, the duration of such tests is relatively short, from hours up to a maximum of days. I've deduced this by A/B testing the A/B test, by logging into a different Google account to see if it behaves identically.

What I've noticed since asking this question is instead that I now have the same experience across multiple Google accounts, including when not logged in at all, and across multiple computers and internet connections. This makes the theory that this is an A/B test, or browser interference, very unlikely. Instead, this seems like a permanent change that was rolled out gradually, and I happened to be an early adopter.

Still looking for a solution and an answer as of March 2024

I'm still looking for an solution to the issue I'm experiencing. This could for example be a setting that can be changed, or a script or plugin that reverts the Maps option to the suggestion bar.

I'm also looking for an answer to why the change was made, if such a reason is publicly known. For example, there may be a bulletin where Google announces changes they're about to make to their UI. Or, this might be a response to EU's DMA (Digital Markets Act) where it might be an attempt to separate Google's Maps product from its Search product because linking to Maps might be regarded as treating their own map service more favorably than the competition.

This question is about using Google (www.google.com)

This happens for all search queries, whether it's very obviously a place, or very obviously not a place, or anything in between. Sometimes the map (point 3 below) is clickable, sometimes not. However, links to Maps are always missing in places 1 and 2 without fail.

Example:

Query: [the pink house, christmas island]

Problem: The search results page includes no links that would switch to Google Maps.

Expectative Vs Result: See screenshot with annotations below.

1. There would usually be a link in the filter/search term suggestion bar to Maps. There is a suggestion for map, however clicking this appends the word map to the search query and doesn't switch to Google Maps.
2. Usually, the all filters dropdown would have a link to Google Maps as a fallback if what you're searching was not detected as a location. However, this is missing as well.
3. Usually, the map preview used to be clickable, but for some reason it just isn't. Clicking this map does nothing.
4. The address is clickable, however, not every search query will generate an address, so this is not always an option.

Experience in a private window

The weird thing is that this seems to only apply while I'm logged in to Google. If I open a private window, the links to Google Maps are indeed present as described in points 1-3.

What could be the reason for this weird behavior?

I play GeoGuessr and I use Google Maps/Street View a lot for research. I'm starting to worry that what I'm seeing is perhaps Google's attempt at soft throttling my usage of Maps because it thinks I'm overusing that service? However, I have not received any warnings about my usage of Google Maps.

P.S. I can still go to Google Maps and search directly from there, so there's that workaround.

Problem with Google Search

When I perform a search at www.google.com while logged in to my profile, the results are now missing the normal Google product links I would see at the top of the page directly under the search box. Missing links include Maps which would normally repeat the same search, but at www.google.com/maps.

The problem goes away if I'm logged out and in a Private Window, and the search results display the links as per normal and I can work around the issue while logged in by navigating directly to Maps and starting my location searches from there.

The example search below is for a location and I want the Maps link displayed, but the same issue happens for all search queries: Whether searching a location or not, for all searches, normal search links normally located under the search box are always missing.

I play GeoGuessr and I use Maps a lot for research. I have not received any warnings about my Maps usage but I wondered if maybe this is Google's attempt at soft-throttling me for overuse.

Example

For example, if I perform a search for [the pink house, christmas island] then this is what I expect to see (highlight added by me):

But, this is what I actually see when logged in to my profile:

Image Annotations

1. There would normally be alink.
   • Clicking it would switch to Maps with the location search pre-populated.
   • In contrast the is labeled Map not Maps and clicking it merely adds the word Map to the existing search query without switching to Google Maps.
2. Usually, if thelink is hidden I can find it under the menu but that menu is missing and Maps is not listed under the menu.
3. Normally the map preview is clickable. For some reason, clicking the map now does nothing.
4. The address is still clickable, however, not every search will generate an address, so this is not always an option.

Crossposted

I also posted this question on the Google Support Community Forum

This question is about using Google (www.google.com)

Query: [the pink house, christmas island]

Problem: The search results page includes no links that would switch to Google Maps.

Expectative Vs Result: See screenshot with annotations below.

1. There would usually be a link in the filter/search term suggestion bar to Maps. There is a suggestion for map, however clicking this appends the word map to the search query and doesn't switch to Google Maps.
2. Usually, the all filters dropdown would have a link to Google Maps as a fallback if what you're searching was not detected as a location. However, this is missing as well.
3. Usually, the map preview used to be clickable, but for some reason it just isn't. Clicking this map does nothing.
4. The address is clickable, however, not every search query will generate an address, so this is not always an option.

This happens for all search queries, whether it's very obviously a place, or very obviously not a place, or anything in between. Sometimes the map (point 3 above) is clickable, sometimes not. However, links to Maps are always missing in places 1 and 2 without fail.

I can still go to Google Maps and search directly from there, so there's that workaround.

The weird thing is that this seems to only apply while I'm logged in to Google. If I open a private window, the links to Google Maps are indeed present as described in points 1-3. I play GeoGuessr and I use Google Maps/Street View a lot for research. I'm starting to worry that what I'm seeing is perhaps Google's attempt at soft throttling my usage of Maps because it thinks I'm overusing that service? However, I have not received any warnings about my usage of Google Maps.

What could be the reason for this weird behavior?

This question is about using Google (www.google.com)

This happens for all search queries, whether it's very obviously a place, or very obviously not a place, or anything in between. Sometimes the map (point 3 below) is clickable, sometimes not. However, links to Maps are always missing in places 1 and 2 without fail.

Example:

Query: [the pink house, christmas island]

Problem: The search results page includes no links that would switch to Google Maps.

Expectative Vs Result: See screenshot with annotations below.

1. There would usually be a link in the filter/search term suggestion bar to Maps. There is a suggestion for map, however clicking this appends the word map to the search query and doesn't switch to Google Maps.
2. Usually, the all filters dropdown would have a link to Google Maps as a fallback if what you're searching was not detected as a location. However, this is missing as well.
3. Usually, the map preview used to be clickable, but for some reason it just isn't. Clicking this map does nothing.
4. The address is clickable, however, not every search query will generate an address, so this is not always an option.

Experience in a private window

The weird thing is that this seems to only apply while I'm logged in to Google. If I open a private window, the links to Google Maps are indeed present as described in points 1-3.

What could be the reason for this weird behavior?

I play GeoGuessr and I use Google Maps/Street View a lot for research. I'm starting to worry that what I'm seeing is perhaps Google's attempt at soft throttling my usage of Maps because it thinks I'm overusing that service? However, I have not received any warnings about my usage of Google Maps.

P.S. I can still go to Google Maps and search directly from there, so there's that workaround.