It's true that this feature is just a UI on top of the exisiting site:yourdomain.com feature the problem is that most average people don't use the site: feature. Site owners aren't complaining about the site: feature they're complaining that Google is overstepping the mark with the UI change.
There are posts here saying that Google should do whatever is best for Google and the searching public but that misses the business reality that Google should be concerned with both the searcher and the site owners/webmasters. They need happy site owners who pay them money for advertising and who want to be in their organic search index.
It's true that in some cases the site: feature is better than the site search on the web site. And there are many example where the site search is better than the site: feature. Google doesn't offer an option for site owners (or searchers) to provide a link to the sites search box, they only offer the site: feature. If the search on the site is better than the site: feature why shouldn't it be the one used when you use this new feature on Google. If the community could decide (between the site: option and the site's search function) then the site owner couldn't complain about this recent UI change, they would have to improve their site search to gain the communities support.
A site's search can be much better than the google site: feature. Google doesn't have access to all the data including price/availability, ratings/reviews etc that a site has.
I agree with some of the other posts when they say its good for people to compalin rather than just walk away. Wouldn't you prefer that your clients gave you feedback on something you have done rather than just not using your services anymore or continuing with you but keeping issues to themselves.
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It's true that this feature is just a UI on top of the exisiting site:yourdomain.com feature the problem is that most average people don't use the site: feature. Site owners aren't complaining about the site: feature they're complaining that Google is overstepping the mark with the UI change. There are posts here saying that Google should do whatever is best for Google and the searching public but that misses the business reality that Google should be concerned with both the searcher and the site owners/webmasters. They need happy site owners who pay them money for advertising and who want to be in their organic search index. It's true that in some cases the site: feature is better than the site search on the web site. And there are many example where the site search is better than the site: feature. Google doesn't offer an option for site owners (or searchers) to provide a link to the sites search box, they only offer the site: feature. If the search on the site is better than the site: feature why shouldn't it be the one used when you use this new feature on Google. If the community could decide (between the site: option and the site's search function) then the site owner couldn't complain about this recent UI change, they would have to improve their site search to gain the communities support. A site's search can be much better than the google site: feature. Google doesn't have access to all the data including price/availability, ratings/reviews etc that a site has. I agree with some of the other posts when they say its good for people to compalin rather than just walk away. Wouldn't you prefer that your clients gave you feedback on something you have done rather than just not using your services anymore or continuing with you but keeping issues to themselves.