Google’s updated guidance for special ad structured data shifts the focus to a more general use that is different from what Schema.org originally intended.
Special announcement Structured data
The structured data of the special announcement was created by Schema.org in March 2020 as a way to communicate special announcements specifically related to Covid-19. In fact, the Schema.org documentation states that it is currently maintained as a work in progress focused specifically on the current Covid-19 crisis.
This is how Schema.org defines this specific structured data:
“A special announcement combines a simple, date-stamped textual information update with contextualized web links and other structured data. It represents an information update made by a locally oriented organization, for example, schools, pharmacies, care providers health, community groups, police, local government.
The motivating scenario of SpecialAnnouncement is the Coronavirus pandemic, and the initial vocabulary is geared towards this emergency situation. Schema.org looks forward to iteratively improving the markup as it is rolled out and as feedback from usage emerges.”
Google special ad implementation
Structured data from the special announcement was introduced by Google in April 2020 specifically for situations related to Covid-19. It was created so that businesses, government entities, schools and other organizations could communicate special announcements such as quarantines, opening hours, closures and restrictions related to Covid-19.
The special ad was released as a beta feature and currently remains in beta status, officially in testing, meaning Google’s implementation was subject to change or complete removal, which is what quietly happened the first week of 2024.
How the SpecialAnnouncement structured data documentation has changed
There are several changes throughout the document that are too numerous to document. Google’s previous version of the special announcement structured data documentation as of December 2023 had 38 references to Covid-19 and a total of 221 text deletions.
After the change, the new version of the Special Announcement documentation contains only 13 references to Covid-19.
Most of the changes are similar to the examples below.
The previous documentation for this section of the guide:
“How to implement your COVID-19 ads
There are two ways to implement your COVID-19 ads:
It was rewritten to this:
“How to implement special ads
There are two ways to implement your special ads:
The changes in the above passage transform the purpose of the Special Notice’s structured data into one with a broader application than the previously narrow Covid-19, but still remain focused on local medical events (more details below) .
Here’s another example that has a similar zoom effect.
This previous passage:
“Information about public transport closures in the context of COVID-19, if applicable in the announcement”.
It was rewritten to remove references to Covid-19 like this:
“Information about public transport closures, if applicable in the announcement”.
The changes, while subtle, represent an evolution of the Special Announcement’s structured data specifications that are not specific to Covid-19.
Perhaps the most noticeable change in the documentation is at the top of the page in the first paragraph.
The previous version of the documentation at the top of the page had this:
“Structured data from the COVID-19 announcement (SpecialAnnouncement) (BETA)
Note: We’re currently developing support for COVID-19 ads on Google Search, and you may see changes to requirements, guidelines, and how the feature appears on Google Search. Learn more about feature availability.
Due to COVID-19, many organizations including governments, healthcare organizations, schools and more are making urgent announcements…”
The updated and considerably shortened walkthrough now looks like this:
“Special Announcement (SpecialAnnouncement) structured data (BETA)
Many organizations, including governments, healthcare organizations, schools, and more, may need to post urgent announcements (such as COVID-19 announcements)…”
Impact of Changes to Special Ads Structured Data
Dozens of changes to the special announcement’s structured data have the effect of making it more flexible for use in situations beyond Covid-19.
But the changes as they currently stand don’t expand the scope of Special Ad structured data beyond what it was before. This is because the nine examples of how structured data can be used remain exactly the same.
Nine examples of special announcements
Announcement of a shelter-in-place directive Notice of closure (eg school or public transport closure) Announcement of government benefits (eg unemployment support, paid leave or one-off payments) Quarantine guidelines Travel restrictions Notification of a new drive-thru test center Announcement of an event transitioning from offline to online, or cancellation Announcement of revised hours and shopping restrictions Disease spread statistics and maps
The guidance continues to encourage the use of such structured data for extraordinary situations related to widespread communicable diseases and other disruptive emergencies.
Given that the examples remain the same, it’s probably safe to say that it may be inappropriate to use this structured data for something in isolation, such as rescheduling a theater performance due to unforeseen circumstances. But since this structured data is in beta, it may evolve at some point
Read the updated special ad structured data guide:
Special Announcement (SpecialAnnouncement) structured data (BETA)
Featured image by Shutterstock/Lauritta
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