Google is updating the Structured Data report in Search Console to provide more context about errors and help you fix invalid markup with less guesswork.
The update is rolling out to Search Console reporting starting today and affects all Rich Results status reports, URL Inspection tools, and Rich Results tests.
How has structured data reporting changed?
As an example of a change – let’s say you’re using the comment snippet tag, but you omit the author’s name.
That will cause an error. Before today, the Structured Data report would display a message stating: Missing ‘name’ field.
If there are multiple fields in a person’s name tag, the previous way of reporting bugs isn’t as helpful as it could have been.
Going forward, the same error will now be displayed: Missing field ‘name’ (in ‘author’).
The added detail in brackets allows you to immediately pinpoint what’s missing in the markup so you can go in and fix it.
Here’s a visual comparison of the old and new ways of reporting errors in Search Console’s structured data reports:
How will this affect my use of Google Search Console?
As mentioned, this update will affect:
- All Search Console Rich Results Status Report
- URL Checker
- Rich Results Test
As a result of these changes, all open issues referencing nested properties will be closed automatically. New questions will be opened with more context on what’s missing.
To avoid overloading your inbox, Search Console does not send email notifications for new issues.
Google clarified that the way it detects errors has not changed. This just changes the way bugs are reported.
resource: Google
Featured image: Gaudi Lab/Shutterstock
