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You can embed IPTC photo metadata directly inside an image, and Google will extract the recommended property Digital Source Type. They ar now able to extract the IPTC NewsCode of compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia (The image is a composite of trained algorithmic media with some other media, such as with inpainting or outpainting operations).
Google updated their documentation, adding MerchantReturnPolicy to allow organizations to specify a general return policy for an Organization as a whole.
Google removed the search feature for Home Activities, which no longer appears in Google Search results. The Home Activities rich result was designed to help people discover activities that they can do from home - for example for upcoming video livestreams or online events.
Adding support for GS1 Digital Link and a few smaller updates:
Google updated their documentation for the Video rich result to remove details of the 'Video host carousel', which was a limited access feature that Google decided 'wasn't useful for the ecosystem at scale.'
Google clarify that there is no harm in leaving the markup on your pages, even though the SERP feature has been removed.
Google updated the Product structured data documentation by adding new 3DModel markup support for merchant listings, allowing site owners to link a 3D model to a specific product (on pages with multiple products).
Google updated the Recipe rich result documentation by removing the section on 'Guided Recipes', which was a Google Assistant feature that has now been deprecated. Previously, recipeIngredient and recipeInstructions were required properties for Guided Recipes but only recommended properties for Google Search, so the documentation now also reflects that these are just recommended properties.
This is a brand new carousel rich result that's in beta, which is a list-like rich result that people can scroll horizontally to see more entities from a given site (also known as a host carousel). Each tile in the carousel may have information from your site about the price, rating, and images for entities on the page.
To be eligible for this beta rich result, you need to add ItemList structured data in combination with at least one one of the following supported structured data items:
This is a brand new rich result designed to better support product variant scenarios for ecommerce sites. They also added a new isVariantOf property to the product structured data documentation and clarified that Google support product variants with distinct URLs. The purpose of this update is to enhance the support offered to e-commerce websites in managing product variants.
Recognizing the complexity and significance of product variants for e-commerce, particularly in categories such as apparel and electronics, Google is providing expanded examples and guidance on implementation of product variant structured data.
Google updated the Merchant listings return policy documentation, clarifying when to use FreeReturn versus ReturnShippingFees as value for returnFees for product returns, in order to better support more granular shipping and return fee scenarios.
Restoring Physician subtype of MedicalBusiness:
Added support for Certifications and a few smaller updates:
Added vocabulary for describing types of digital sources (in collaboration with IPTC), and clarifying subtypes of Physician:
Google amended the documentation for the Product search feature, adding support for the suggestedAge property as an alternative to suggestedMaxAge and suggestedMinAge, and clarified the list of possible values for age ranges.
This is in order to make it easier and more flexible for people to specify age ranges for a product (Also, the previous wording was confusing and didn't map well to the Merchant Center documentation about product age ranges).
Google updated the Discussion Forum and Q&A page documentation to explicitly clarify that author URLs are recommended.
Google updated the Organization documentation to explain that telephone and email can be specified at the Organization level besides contactPoint.
This is a brand new rich result designed for sites that list holiday rental inventory. When you add structured data to your vacation rental listing pages, this means that users can see listing information in the search results; such as the name, description, images, location, rating, reviews and more.
Note: This feature is limited to sites that meet certain eligibility criteria and additional steps are required to complete the integration. To learn more about how to list your vacation rentals on Google, visit the integration starter guide.
Google removed the Logo documentation for the Search Gallery, and have merged this into a new rich result, Organization, which also includes more organizational information (such as contact info, legal name, and business identifiers).
The documentation for the Q&A rich result has had a significant update, with six recommended properties added to both Question and Answer. Additionally, the Comment type has been added, which can optionally be used to describe clarifications or discussions about the question or answer which are neither question nor answer (define Comments inside the Question or Answer, as values for the comment property).
Previously, the only recommended properties for Question were text and upvoteCount, and the only recommended properties for Answer were url and upvoteCount.
These are the new recommended properties that have been added to both Question and Answer:
This is a brand new rich result designed for any site where creators (either people or organizations) share first-hand perspectives. It helps Google Search highlight information about the creator, such as their name or social handle, profile photo, follower count, or the popularity of their content.
Google also claim to make use of this markup when disambiguating the creator, and in features such as Perspectives and Discussions and Forums.
This is a brand new rich result designed for any forum-style site where people collectively share first-hand perspectives.
When forum sites add this markup, Google Search can better identify online discussions across the web and make use of this markup in features such as Perspectives and Discussions and Forums.
This is a brand new rich result for websites that offer online or offline educational courses. Only educational content that fits the following definition of a course is eligible for the Course info rich result: a series or unit of curriculum that contains lectures, lessons, or modules in a particular subject or topic.
You can help people find your course content by telling Google about your course using course info structured data. When you provide more detailed information about a course, such as reviewer ratings, pricing, and course details, Google can better understand your course and present a rich experience to people with the course info rich result.
Google updated their documentation on the dateModified and datePublished properties, to clarify that they recommend providing timezone information - otherwise they will default to the timezone used by Googlebot.
A collection of small fixes based on publisher feedback:
This is a brand new rich result for car dealership websites to make their sale vehicle inventory eligible for display on various Google surfaces, including Google Search and dealerships' Business Profiles. People can then search, filter, and easily learn more about vehicles for sale such as availability, pricing, and key information about the vehicles for sale, potentially directing customers to your business.
The Vehicle listing rich result is currently only available in English in the US and US territories. The feature is available on both mobile and desktop.
