Google announces similar items schema for image search on mobile

Google’s image search results on the mobile web and in the Android Search app are now showing “similar items” — i.e., if you’re looking at “lifestyle” images and click on one that you like, Google may show you additional product images from places where you can buy the item(s).

Julia E, product manager on Google Image Search, announced on the Google search blog that you need to use schema.org product metadata on your pages and schema.org/Product markup to make sure your products are eligible for inclusion on these image results. Specifically:

• Ensure that the product offerings on your pages have schema.org product markup, including an image reference. Products with name, image, price & currency, and availability meta-data on their host page are eligible for Similar items.
• Test your pages with Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to verify that the product markup is formatted correctly.
• See your images on image search by issuing the query “site:yourdomain.com.” For results with valid product markup, you may see product information appear once you tap on the images from your site. It can take up to a week for Googlebot to recrawl your website.

Here is a screen shot of the results:

This schema was actually introduced last December, but Google never announced it.

Google says this similar items search feature is available now for “handbags, sunglasses, and shoes and will cover other apparel and home & garden categories in the next few months.”