Google adds ‘creator’ property to video structured data guidelines

Image credit: Abondance

Google integrated a new ‘creator’ property into its video structured data guidelines Tuesday, aiming to boost the discoverability of publisher-hosted video content across its platforms globally.

This update helps Google identify and display videos in prominent locations such as Google Discover, Google Images, the dedicated Video tab, and standard search results, according to an announcement from Google Search Central.

The ‘creator’ property is an optional addition to the existing video structured data framework, which still mandates ‘name’, ‘thumbnailUrl’, and ‘uploadDate’ for all video content.

Google Search Central recommended that publishers also include ‘contentUrl’ or ’embedUrl’, ‘description’, and ‘duration’ for optimal visibility, with ‘creator’ now joining this list of highly suggested properties.

Damien, a spokesperson for Google, stated that the new property would provide richer context to Google’s indexing systems, enabling more precise categorization and presentation of video content to users.

For videos to benefit from this enhancement, Google emphasized that the web page hosting the video must be indexed by its search engine.

Publishers are advised to validate their structured data implementations using Google’s Rich Results Test tool to ensure proper recognition and processing of the new ‘creator’ property.

The company said in its statement that the update reflects an ongoing effort to improve how video content is surfaced and consumed across its ecosystem.

This initiative builds on Google’s continuous refinement of its schema.org-based structured data guidelines, which are important for search engines to understand the content and context of web pages.

The addition is expected to offer publishers a new avenue to increase traffic and engagement with their video assets by making them more prominent within Google’s diverse search and discovery interfaces.

Source: Abondance