Google Allows Implementation of Mix Structured Data Formats

In her latest presentation at the Google Search Central Live event in Zurich, Aleyda Solis revealed that Google is opening up opportunities for developers and website owners to install various structured data formats on one page.

Although this announcement has captured the attention of the SEO and web development community, Google has yet to issue an official statement about this update.
 

Structured Data Usage Update

Structured data is information organized in a specific format, making it easy for search engines to understand, parse, and process the page content. Structured data aids search engines and other applications in better understanding the content and context of a page.

Currently, several types of structured data are commonly used, such as JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa. Each format has its own advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, website owners must choose only one data format to install on their web pages.

The news of combining two structured data formats brings possibilities for developers and webmasters. The potential merging of these formats allows them to enjoy the flexibility of using both simultaneously.

However, this development raises questions about the compatibility and validation of combined structured data in the main validator. It is still unclear whether this approach will pass validation tests and, more importantly, how Google will manage it.

Furthermore, the status of RDFa in this merger is uncertain, as Google has not provided detailed confirmation.

 

Encountered Update

Initial reports about this intriguing possibility came from Structured Data Consultant Jarno Van Driel, who discovered the potential for this merger. Through his LinkedIn account, he stated:

“It seems Google has released quite a fundamental update for both the Rich Result Test and Schema.org’s validator, an update which finally puts an end to a long-standing personal desire: Allowing entities described in multiple syntaxes (JSON-LD, Microdata, RDFa) to coalesce and/or be chained together!”

In this LinkedIn post, he also shared an example code script used for experimentation. Below is the code shared by Jarno Van Driel:

<ul>

 <li resource="#RDFa" vocab="https://schema.org" typeof="Thing https://lnkd.in/erVTFG6H">

 <a property="url" href="https://lnkd.in/e5fyABDE">

  <span property="name">RDFA</span>

 </a>

 </li>

 <li itemid="#Microdata" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Thing">

 <link itemprop="additionalType" href="https://lnkd.in/ekx69HjK">

 <span itemprop="name">Microdata</span>

 </li>

</ul>




<script type="application/ld+json">

{

 "@context": "https://schema.org",

 "@graph": [{

 "@id": "#RDFa",

 "alternateName": "Resource Description Framework in Attributes"

 }, {

 "@id": "#Microdata",

 "url": "https://lnkd.in/e228Tr6K"

 }, {

 "@id": "#JSONLD",

 "@type": ["Thing", "https://lnkd.in/ezWdTkjN"],

 "name": "JSON-LD",

 "alternateName": "JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data",

 "url": "https://lnkd.in/ekTgF_Zk"

 }, {

 "@id": "#Article",

 "@type": "Article",

 "headline": "Entities described in multiple syntaxes can now be coalesced and/or chained",

 "about": [{

  "@id": "#RDFa"

 }, {

  "@id": "#Microdata"

 }, {

  "@id": "#JSONLD"

 }]

 }]

}

</script>

SEO Impact

In the world of SEO, this change has several impacts. With the possibility of combining Schema.org structured data types, publishers can now use Microdata with simpler code. This means they can easily add structured information to web pages without significant time and effort.

However, while this combination is highly possible, it does not necessarily mean it should be applied to all pages. This practice may only be needed on specific pages where a combination of JSON-LD and Microdata is deemed necessary.