Apex Internet Blog

Google, Bing & Yahoo unite for better search results – schema.org

In a rare showing of 'togetherness', Google, Bing and Yahoo have come together to launch schema.org - an initiative that makes it possible for webmasters to add structured HTML tags/markup to their websites which will help the Search Engines index their content and deliver better search results to users.

Schema.org is a comprehensive resource where webmasters can learn more about this new initiative. At the time of this post it lists more than 100 categories of markup for content, including markup for creative works (such as books, movies, or audio recordings), places (such as a local businesses or restaurants), people, reviews, or products.

As an example, using the new schema.org markup it would be possible for the webmaster of a movie review website to make it very clear to the Search Engines that the page on their website dedicated to reviewing 'Stand By Me' actually refers to the 1986 movie starring River Phoenix, and not the song by the same name that was originally performed by Ben E King.

Google had previously attempted to introduce a similar service known as ‘rich snippets’. Launched in 2009, rich snippets were intended to better represent search results that described people or contained ratings and reviews. Rich snippets was developed to support a number of structured markup standards (including microdata, microformat and RDFa), yet a lack of consistent support across all Search Engines, coupled with the complexity of implementing these structured markup alternatives meant that widespread adoption was never achieved. Now with the introduction of a shared collection of HTML tags via Schema.org, it is much easier for website owners to implement a standard markup structure that is simple to use and generates maximum benefit for doing so because their efforts are supported across all major Search Engines.

Please note, for those of you already using Google's rich snippets you'll be pleased to know that Google will continue to support these existing standards. That said, Google do state that changing to the new markup format could be beneficial as you'll be switching to a standard that is accepted across all Search Engines, not just Google.

While it's still too early to declare the introduction of the Schema.org as a 'game changer', even at this very early stage it looks like it will certainly impact the way websites are built and it will change the way search marketing techniques are applied.  Whatever the outcome, it serves as a substantial progression for both the search industry and consumers alike and we're certainly watching this space very closely.

Categories: Search
Posted on: 7th Jun 11 by Mark Vassiliou
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