Recently, there have been changes to Google structured data requirements for How-To, QA Page, and Special Announcements. These changes simplify the structured data guidelines compared to before.

Structured data is a format standardized by Google to provide information about a webpage and to help categorize the page’s content.

Rich results make it easier for audiences to get the information they need more conveniently. This is a display format favored by Google users due to its more structured presentation. It allows audiences to filter information more quickly and accurately.

Structured data can help a website appear in rich results such as QA Pages that resemble FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), How-To rich results for tutorials, or Special Announcements related to COVID-19 information.

To learn more about the latest changes to Google structured data requirements, read this article to the end.

Changes to Google Structured Data Requirements

By following the appropriate structured data requirements, your website pages may appear in rich results and reach the right users. Let’s take a look at the summary of the latest changes to Google structured data requirements that will help your pages appear in rich results.

Changes to Google Structured Data Requirements for How-To

The change in Google structured data requirements for How-To is the removal of the description property. Although this property is no longer required in How-To, it can still be used in other properties of the How-To data type. According to Google’s official explanation, the reason for removing the description property is that it is not used by Google Search.

Changes to Google Structured Data Requirements for QA Page

The change in Google structured data requirements for the QA Page is the removal of the author property when using the Suggested Answer property under the Main Entity. Additionally, other properties under the Main Entity that have been removed include:

1.mainEntity.dateCreated

2.mainEntity.suggestedAnswer.dateCreated

3.mainEntity.acceptedAnswer.author

4.mainEntity.acceptedAnswer.dateCreated

5.mainEntity.author

Changes to Google Structured Data Requirements for Special Announcements

Basically, Google structured data for Special Announcements refers to structured data related to COVID-19, which is still in beta. This means it is not yet officially released. The structured data for Special Announcements is still under development on Schema.org.

As of now, the changes to Google structured data requirements for Special Announcements mean that the following properties are no longer required:

1.provider

2.audience

3.serviceType

4.address

5.category

That is the information regarding the latest changes to Google structured data requirements. You may still include structured data outside of Google's guidelines. It can still help explain your page better and make it easier for Google to index. However, such structured data will not enable your page to appear in Search Engine Result Pages as rich results.

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