Gemini 3 Flash Free Version Disables Google Search Function, Sparking User Concern

According to users on the Linux.do community, Google’s newly released Gemini 3 Flash preview has disabled the ‘Use Google Search for grounding’ feature in its free tier. This change contrasts with the previous 2.5 Flash version, which still supported this functionality. The adjustment may impact the user experience when using Gemini for information retrieval and content creation, especially in scenarios that require citing the latest web information. Although Google has not yet issued an official statement regarding this feature limitation, the change has already drawn widespread attention from the AI user community. Users speculate that this might reflect a shift in Google’s AI product strategy or an effort to encourage users to upgrade to paid versions. For AI users who rely on the Google search function, this could mean needing to find alternatives or consider paying for Gemini’s advanced features.