---
title: "Google Custom Search API retiring? Use Web search"
canonical_url: "https://chatthing.ai/blog/web-search-replaces-google-search"
last_updated: "2026-11-11T10:50:27.635Z"
meta:
description: "Google's Custom Search JSON API closes on 1 January 2027. Chat Thing's Web search replaces it, and reads pages and PDFs on up to 50 sites you choose."
"og:description": "Google's Custom Search JSON API closes on 1 January 2027. Chat Thing's Web search replaces it, and reads pages and PDFs on up to 50 sites you choose."
"og:title": "Web search: a more powerful replacement for Google Search - Blog - Chat Thing"
"twitter:description": "Google's Custom Search JSON API closes on 1 January 2027. Chat Thing's Web search replaces it, and reads pages and PDFs on up to 50 sites you choose."
"twitter:title": "Web search: a more powerful replacement for Google Search - Blog - Chat Thing"
---
[← Back to blog](https://chatthing.ai/blog)**Changelog**# **Web search: a more powerful replacement for Google Search**
Zef
11 Nov 2026
~ 5 min read
---
---
### **On this page**
1. [What Web search does that Google Search couldn't](#what-web-search-does-that-google-search-couldnt)
2. [When to use it](#when-to-use-it)
3. [Set it up](#set-it-up)
4. [What it costs](#what-it-costs)
5. [Google Search stops working on 1 January 2027](#google-search-stops-working-on-1-january-2027)
6. [FAQ](#faq)
1. [Is the Google Custom Search JSON API being shut down?](#is-the-google-custom-search-json-api-being-shut-down)
2. [What happens to my Google Search Power-Up if I do nothing?](#what-happens-to-my-google-search-power-up-if-i-do-nothing)
3. [Will Web search use my message tokens?](#will-web-search-use-my-message-tokens)
4. [Can Web search read PDFs?](#can-web-search-read-pdfs)
5. [Which plans include Web search?](#which-plans-include-web-search)
Your agent can now search the websites you choose at the moment someone asks, open the pages and PDFs it finds, and answer from what they say, with links to the pages it used. The new **Web search** Power-Up is on every paid plan, Basic and above.
It also replaces our **Google Search** Power-Up. Google is closing the service that Power-Up runs on, so Google Search stops working on 1 January 2027. If you use it, you can switch in one click today, and if you don't, we'll switch it for you on 31 December. The details are [further down](#google-search-stops-working-on-1-january-2027).
## What Web search does that Google Search couldn't
Google Search gave your agent a page of results, each with a title, a short snippet and a link, and your agent had to answer from those snippets. Web search does more:
- **It reads what it finds.** Your agent can open up to 3 pages or PDFs at a time and answer from the parts that matter to the question. Reports, price lists, policies and speeches published as PDFs are now within reach. Google Search couldn't do this, and the Browse web page Power-Up can't read PDFs.
- **It searches several websites at once.** Add up to 50 **Allowed websites**, with their subdomains included, or leave the list empty to search the whole web. Google Search allowed one site.
- **It stays where you put it.** Chat Thing checks every result and every page your agent asks to read, so it stays inside your allowed websites even if it guesses a link. You can also list up to 50 **Excluded websites** that are never searched or read.
- **It knows what's new.** Each result comes back with its publish date and the passages that match the question, so your agent can tell which report is the latest.
- **It shows its sources.** Your agent links to the pages it used in its answer.
- **It can dig deeper.** **Search depth** is **Fast** by default. **Thorough** finds more on hard questions.
## When to use it
[Adding a website to your agent's knowledge](https://chatthing.ai/docs/knowledge/website) is still the best fit for a site of a few hundred pages that changes now and then. Web search covers what indexing can't:
- a very large site, such as a news archive or a publications library with thousands of items
- a site that changes every day, where an indexed copy is always behind
- answers that sit inside PDFs
- questions about the latest, such as "the most recent price update"
## Set it up
1. Open your agent, go to the **Power-ups** tab and click **New power-up**.
2. Choose **Web search** and click **Create power-up**.
3. Give it a name and a **Description** that says when to search, for example "Use for news, reports and anything published on example.com."
4. Add each website to **Allowed websites**, or leave it empty to search the whole web.
5. Leave **Let the bot read pages and PDFs** on, unless you only want short search results.
6. Choose **Results per search** and **Search depth**, then click **Save**.
The full guide is in the [Web search docs](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/web-search).
## What it costs
Each search and each page read counts towards your team's [message tokens](https://chatthing.ai/docs/account/message-tokens), the same allowance your agent's replies use.
| Action | Message tokens |
| --- | --- |
| Fast search | about 3,000 |
| Thorough search | about 15,000 |
| Each page or PDF read | about 3,000 |
The settings show these numbers before you save. Pages that fail to load aren't charged. If your team has used its allowance and your agent runs on your own AI provider key, Web search pauses until the allowance resets or you [add message tokens](https://chatthing.ai/docs/account/add-ons), because your own key doesn't pay for search.
Google Search searches didn't use message tokens. Web search searches do, because each one runs a full search and can read the pages behind it.
## Google Search stops working on 1 January 2027
Google is retiring the **Custom Search JSON API**, the Google service our Google Search Power-Up uses. It's already closed to new customers, and existing users have until 1 January 2027 to move off it. From that date, the Google Search Power-Up stops working. You can't add new Google Search Power-Ups any more.
**Switch now.** Open your Google Search Power-Up and click **Switch to Web search**. It adds a Web search Power-Up with the same name, description and site, with **Let the bot read pages and PDFs** off, and turns off Google Search. Your agent carries on as before, and you can turn reading on whenever you like.
**Or let us do it.** Any Google Search Power-Up that's still turned on on Thursday 31 December is switched to Web search for you that day: same name and description, the same site (or the whole web if it had no site), **Fast** search depth, and reading off, so your agent gets search results the way it does now. From then, each search uses about 3,000 message tokens.
A fixed **Search query** and a **Display mode** aren't carried over, because Web search doesn't have them yet.
**To keep yours from being switched,** turn the Google Search Power-Up off before 31 December. Turned-off Power-Ups are left alone. You can also reply to the email we sent your team's owners and admins, and we'll turn it off for you.
The step-by-step is in [Move from Google Search to Web search](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/google-search#move-from-google-search-to-web-search).
## FAQ
### Is the Google Custom Search JSON API being shut down?
Yes. Google says the Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers and that existing customers have until 1 January 2027 to move to an alternative. Chat Thing's Google Search Power-Up uses it, so it stops working then.
### What happens to my Google Search Power-Up if I do nothing?
If it's turned on, we switch it to Web search on 31 December with the same site, **Fast** search depth and page reading off. If it's turned off, we leave it alone.
### Will Web search use my message tokens?
Yes. A Fast search uses about 3,000 tokens, a Thorough search about 15,000, and each page or PDF read about 3,000. Google Search searches didn't.
### Can Web search read PDFs?
Yes. With **Let the bot read pages and PDFs** on, your agent can open a PDF it finds and answer from the relevant parts, up to about 6,000 characters per page or document.
### Which plans include Web search?
Basic, Standard, Pro and Enterprise.
Add Web search to your agent from the **Power-ups** tab, or read the [Web search docs](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/web-search) first.
### **Related articles **
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New agents now start with Otto, which builds the agent from your website with you, and the whole dashboard is much faster. Plus your website's PDFs as knowledge, and Document Search to see why your agent missed a page.
[](https://chatthing.ai/blog/mcp-servers-make-scenarios-and-meeting-booking) [MCP servers, Make scenarios and meeting booking
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- **Previous **
- [← How to build an MCP server without writing code](https://chatthing.ai/blog/how-to-build-an-mcp-server-without-code)