Google will drop support for data-vocabulary.org structured data on April 6

Data-vocabulary.org structured data markup will be ineligible for Google rich result features starting on April 6, 2020, the company announced Tuesday. Site owners will need to convert to the schema.org markup if they want their pages to be eligible for Google rich results.

Why we care

If your pages are still marked up with data-vocabulary.org schema come April 6th, rich result features for your pages will no longer appear, which means less organic visibility and, as a consequence, potentially decreased traffic.

More on the announcement

• “From January 20 until April 6, any data-vocabulary.org structured data on a web page will trigger a warning for the appropriate rich result type. After April 6, an error will be triggered,” Google wrote on its data anomalies page.  Warning and error messages will appear within Google Search Console.
• Google cited the increasing usage and popularity of schema.org for the shift in developmental focus.
• Site owners can test out live code snippets using Google’s Rich Results Test tool.
• Pages using data-vocabulary.org schema for purposes other than rich results will still remain valid.

If you’re looking to get a more comprehensive grasp on structured data, the role it plays in the searcher experience and the types of schema you should use for best results, make sure to attend Leveraging Schema and Structured Data for Maximum Effect at SMX West on February 19, led by Abby Hamilton, SEO associate manager at Merkle, and Cata Milos, principal program manager for Microsoft. Register today.