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Google has shut down the Google Showtimes service, which was available at google.com/movies for a long long time. The message on the site now reads:
Google Showtimes was discontinued on November 1, 2016. You can now discover showtimes on the search results page by searching for the name of the movie you want to see or try searching for the word "movies" to discover what’s in theaters.Sincerely,
The Google Showtimes team
True, all you need to do now is search Google for [movies] and you get a list of movies playing nearby.
There are a bunch of searchers not happy with this, including this thread at the Google Web Search Help forums and WebmasterWorld thread. Here are their thoughts:
The suggested keyword search for "movies" is a useless and HORRIBLE suggestion that serves to insult anyone who understands search protocols. The functionality of GOOGLE SHOWTIMES is gone totally and is not replaced by a lame search or the crazy Fandago mashup.
Google has stopped showing lyrics for at least a month, too. Has that been announced as well? Seems like a pattern at Google where they're pulling back from licensing or repurposing other site's content?
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help and WebmasterWorld.
