H/T Randy Milanovic

H/T Randy Milanovic 
Structured Data Changes

#structureddata  

Originally shared by Aaron Bradley

Google has made massive changes to how they handle and document structured data

Google has just rolled a completely redesigned web presence for their structured data information, along with changes to the names they assign to structured data-powered features and, it appears, to those features themselves.

Some key observations from an initial pass.

Structured data information now split between two areas

There are now two sections relevant to structured data and disambiguated entity use.

Guides
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/

An overview of different search result features, a gallery of rich results examples, a developer checklist, resources on indexing, and several pages about how structured data translates into SERP display features.

Data types
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/data-type-selector

A list of different types that generate rich search results, with use cases, guidelines and markup specifications for each. Each of these replaces what were previously "rich snippets" specification pages.

These are now organized into (extensible) groups by use case: Site Structure (e.g. sitelinks search box), Authorized Presence (e.g. corporate contacts), Creative Works (e.g. recipes) and Commerce (e.g. products).

Rich snippets RIP

Google has ceased using the term "rich snippets" in their documentation. Instead these are globally rich results - with the rich card now being the primary term for an enhanced result in search results.

Mobile, mobile, mobile

As per the move to "rich cards" from "rich snippets" the focus is clearly on the mobile experience. Most, if not all, examples now show rich cards in a mobile context.

The host-specific recipe list

"A host-specific recipe list displays cards from a single source." Supported by ItemList markup, recipes are now eligible to be shown in a carousel of site-specific recipes.

On-site examples be gone

Previously example code would appear on the specifications page for each rich snippet type. Now examples are links that launch example code directly in the Structured Data Testing Tool.

There are now also global links to Inside Search, Github and a YouTube playlist.

The Github link ("Fork our samples and try them yourself")...
https://github.com/google/search-samples/
... is pretty sparse at present.

One Article to rule them all

There are no longer separate pages for "article rich snippets" and "top stories with AMP", but a single page for article markup.

Live Blogs and Software Apps move to a holding pen

Features that aren't currently supported for all publishers are now found under:

Early Access and Partner-only Features
https://developers.google.com/search/pilot/open/

Currently housed here are "Live Blogs" and "Software Apps", each of which had their own page in the Structured Data Section of Google Developers. Despite its "we are piloting" disclaimer, however, "Local Businesses" information resides under Data Types.

I'm sure there's more to be uncovered: leave a comment if you spot something interesting!