I almost made this change to my about:config:

browser.search.showOneOffButtons : false

But I don’t want to be attached to old user interfaces, and I want to use modern user interfaces even if they’re not what I’m used to.

Most of the user interface changes in Firefox/Iceweasel have been a pleasant surprise, or so subtle I barely notice them.

Tabs on top? Sure, I don’t mind, I seldom use the toolbar anyway.

But I believe this change to be a blunder. Those favicons have a purpose: telling me visually what search engine I’m using. Without them, I can’t tell what’s going to happen after I press enter.

I am not the first to make this observation.

The old search bar gave you an indication (icon) of what search engine would be used. Now you have to click on the search icon to see which one is active.

— jdspencer, December 2nd, 2014, 6:37 pm

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2893457

Is there a way to restore the search bar from version 33? I like seeing which search engine I have selected and the ability to change it with a drop down list BEFORE I highlight text, right-click, and select ‘ Search Google for “xxxx” ‘

— c.r., December 2, 2014

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1033968

Set to false to restore Firefox’s classic search where you could see the favicon for the current search engine.

https://www.fixedfirefox.com/aboutconfig/

Anyway, I’m going to try it for a while and see if it works.

Addendum 2016-06-14: I did not last long without the buttons, and I am sad now that Firefox 43 has removed them entirely.

browser.search.showOneOffButtons doesn’t work in 43+

Status: VERIFIED INVALID

[ … ]

I also prefer the old version to the new one. In the old version you could select a search engine, start typing and then see the suggestions for that search engine. In the new version this is not possible, only by changing the default search engine. Also seeing the full names is useful - I have 3 different languages of Wikipedia in my search engines and the only way to distinguish between them is by looking at the names.

[ … ]

It is also unfortunate that the user cannot see anymore which engine is default (at a glance).

[ … ]

The pref was removed in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1119250

Please don’t spam the bug about bringing it back, its not going to happen.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1221866

Impact of Mozilla’s decision to remove text descriptions from the search-bar:

1. The search-bar shows empty favicons only (no text). The search-bar is therefore unusable.
2. Remove the search-bar, and use the address-bar as search-bar. This is how apple’s safari and google’s chrome work.
3. Remove the useful searchplugins, because they are not selectable from the address-bar.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1119250

Addendum 2018-03-18: I still miss these. I wonder if Firefox wants people to stop using custom searches and just use the address box as an omnibar.

Addendum 2020-06-11: Now using Firefox 77. The search bar takes up so much space I’m debating whether to even leave it enabled.