Google Updates Product Structured Data Guidance
Google has updated its guidelines on product structured data
Google Search Central has updated its Products Structured Data documentation to clarify product-related pages eligible for structured data.
Product Structured Information
Structured data can transmit information about a website to search engines.
It is not intended to be seen by visitors to a website.
Search engines use structured data to realize web pages better. Search engines can also use structured data to present the information more appealingly and practically, leading to increased web page traffic.
It is therefore crucial to use the Google markup, especially for product structured data.
Google displays rich results for products both in Google image search and Google search.
Rich results for products show information such as prices, customer ratings, availability, and more.
Like all of Google’s guidelines for structured data use, the guidelines for product-rich results are particular about how structured data can be used.
Structured data for product pages must only be about one product.
Structured data for product variants
Products can be sold in multiple variants, such as size, model, and color.
Retailers often publish multiple variations of the same product on product pages. Potential buyers can easily view, compare, and choose variations of the same product on this page.
What about multiple websites that offer different versions of the same product? Is it acceptable to use the same structured information (with minor variations for each page)?
The oder do you choose one page to represent the product and then use the structured data from that page?
Google Search Central has updated the guidelines regarding product structured data to clarify how structured data can be used for product variants.
The guidelines for structuring data for specific products remain the same. Rich results only support structured data on pages dedicated to one page.
Google clarified that web pages that focus on variations of a single product are eligible for rich results. They can also benefit from their structured data.
A product variation page must be published at a “distinct URL” to qualify for rich results.
Product structured data guidance states
Use markup only for a product and not for a category or a list of products. The example of “shoes in the shop” does not refer to a particular product. At the moment, product-rich results support pages that only focus on one development.
It then displays the updated guidance right after the previous sentence:
“This applies to product variants that each have a unique URL.”
What’s the Big Deal?
Google’s updated guidance clarifies whether structured data should be added to product pages that show the same product in different versions.
A merchant might have a page on a shoe and another for each color.
You can create web pages that feature different color shoes with product structured data. These pages will be eligible for Google-rich results.
This doesn’t mean that search-related guidance is any less critical. It warns against creating cookie-cutter pages with minor variations.