Search Engine Land » Google » Google Search Console » Google Search Console structured data error reporting gains more contextual information

Google announced that it is adding more contextual information to the structured data error reporting within Google Search Console, the rich results test and URL inspection tool. This does not mean you should expect any additional errors, but rather, you should expect the same number of errors but those errors will be more descriptive and helpful in debugging issues with your structured data.

What changed. Google gave an example “if a website doesn’t provide the name of the author in Review snippet markup, Search Console currently reports an error named Missing field “name”. Starting today, that error will be named Missing field “name” (in “author”). The more detailed context in parenthesis can help you find the issues more easily in your structured data.”

Here is a screenshot of the before and after on this:

What is impacted. A few of the reports within Google Search Console are impacted by this including. Google said all Google Search Console rich result status reports, the Search Console URL inspection tool and Rich Results Test. Google added that even if you haven’t changed your structured data markup:

• All your open issues that refer to nested properties will be automatically closed (for example, the Missing field “name” issue in the example above).
• You’ll see new open issues with more context about what’s missing (for example, the issue will say Missing field “name” (in “author”). To avoid overloading Search Console users with emails, we won’t send notifications on the creation of these new issues.

Why we care. This is just a name change Google said, there is no reason to panic, but you should be aware of this change. Google said this is “simply a change in the issue name, it will not affect how Search Console detects errors, and all the issues that are being closed will be replaced by a new issue with the additional context in the issue name.” At the same time, Google added “please note that if you requested Search Console to validate a fix before the change, you will need to revalidate the new issues.”

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.