Google dropped mobile breadcrumbs from SERPs, not their SEO value

What happened

Google stopped displaying breadcrumbs in mobile search results in January 2025. The change applies across all languages and regions where Google Search is available. Desktop search results still show breadcrumbs.

A guide from Sitebulb explains that this visual removal does not affect the SEO value of breadcrumb markup. The BreadcrumbList schema type still functions as documented, and Google’s structured data documentation has not deprecated breadcrumb support.

Google’s original announcement stated: “Starting today, we’re rolling out a change to no longer show breadcrumbs on mobile search results in all languages and regions where Google Search is available (they continue to appear on desktop search results).”

Why it matters

The mobile SERP change prompted some SEOs to question whether breadcrumb implementation was still worthwhile. Sitebulb’s guide argues that if you were only implementing breadcrumbs for the mobile SERP display, you were missing the bigger picture.

Breadcrumbs serve three purposes that have nothing to do with how they appear in search results:

• Internal linking structure. Each breadcrumb level creates a clickable link back through your site hierarchy. These links pass authority up to category and section pages.
• Crawlability signals. Breadcrumb trails give crawlers a clear map of how pages relate to each other within your site’s hierarchy. The trail reinforces parent-child relationships between URLs.
• User navigation. Breadcrumbs let visitors move up your site structure without relying on the back button or returning to the homepage.

The BreadcrumbList schema specification on Schema.org defines breadcrumbs as “a chain of linked Web pages, typically described using at least their URL and their name, and typically ending with the current page.” The position property reconstructs the order of items, with integers starting at 1 for the first (topmost) item.

What to do

Keep your breadcrumb markup in place. Desktop SERPs still display breadcrumbs, and the structured data continues to help Google understand your site hierarchy. Removing it would mean losing both the desktop display and the crawlability benefits.

Audit your breadcrumb hierarchy for accuracy. Sitebulb’s guide highlights a common mistake: breadcrumb trails that don’t match the actual URL structure. If your breadcrumb shows Home > Start an LLC > California LLC but your URL is /random-state-123, you’re sending conflicting signals about your site structure.

Pick the right breadcrumb type for your site. Hierarchy-based breadcrumbs work well for content sites with clear parent-child page relationships. Ecommerce sites with filtering may need attribute-based breadcrumbs that reflect how users navigate through product filters. Using the wrong type creates confusion rather than clarity.

Validate your BreadcrumbList markup. Confirm that the position values are integers in ascending order and that every itemListElement includes both a URL and a name. Malformed breadcrumb data won’t help Google or your users.

Watch out for

Breadcrumbs that create orphan paths. If a breadcrumb trail links to a category page that doesn’t exist or returns a 404, you’ve broken the navigation chain. Every page in the breadcrumb trail needs to be a real, crawlable URL.

Mismatched hierarchy and URL structure. When your breadcrumb path suggests one site structure but your URLs suggest another, crawlers get mixed signals. The breadcrumb hierarchy should reflect how your site is actually organized, not an aspirational information architecture you haven’t built yet.