In a recently updated guideline, Google seems to be discouraging the repetitive use of FAQ structured data markup.
Back in 2018, Google launched new schema markups to enable the on-page content feature on the SERP as a rich snippet. The FAQ schema happens to be one of these markups.
So, webmasters can include a piece of code on their website to create a Faq Structured data. Along with showing it as a rich snippet on the SERP, the Google Assistant also uses the FAQ structured data for voice search.
Since an FAQ rich snippet occupies an extra listing on the search result, it could increase the search visibility of pages. It also enables users to push their competitor’s listings to the next page potentially.
With these benefits, it’s not surprising that publishers would try to game the system. But Google is not allowing it.
The search engine giant has updated its guidelines for the use of FAQ structured data to address this issue.
Google Discourages Repetitive Use of FAQ Structured Data Markup
Kenichi Suzuki first spotted the change, and he shared the information on Twitter.
The new line on the FAQ Structured Data guideline reads:
“If you have FAQ content that is repetitive on your site (meaning, the same question, and answer appear on multiple pages on your site), mark up only one instance of that FAQ for your entire site.”
We can only assume that Google added the new line to prevent specific websites from taking up too many spots on the SERP. In his tweet, Suzuki shared an example of how Expedia may be marking up repetitive content.
The example shows how the website marked up the same questions about Tokyo on several different pages.
According to the new guideline, using FAQ content in this way is no longer allowed. Instead, Expedia must now markup questions about Tokyo once. Preferably, on a page that’s dedicated to questions about Tokyo.
Although site owners can still include the same question on multiple pages, they should refrain from marking it up every time.
Violators of the new Google’s structured data guidelines may lose their spot in featured snippets.
Read More: Beyond Snippets: Introducing Google Q&A and Rich Results
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