Google recently announced that it is dropping support for a number of structured data types and related search features. This change affects several schema markups that previously powered enhancements like Today’s Doodle boxes, nutrition facts, nearby offers, and events in Google Search. While these schema types may no longer trigger Google SERP features, they remain valid schema.org standards and continue to provide value for Bing, AI-driven platforms, data consumers, and future search experiences.
As a result, SEO, content, and marketing teams need to review how schema is used, reported, and recommended, ensuring their approach reflects Google’s changes without weakening the broader SEO strategy.
What’s Changing and Why It Matters
Structured data is designed to help search engines better understand the content on a page. For years, Google has used schema markup to enable rich search features - things like event listings, product details, recipes, reviews, and more.
But in a recent update, Google removed support for a handful of structured data types and the corresponding search features they enabled. This means that even if a website has valid markup for:
- Event schema
- Nutrition facts
- Nearby offers
- Today’s Doodle contexts
…Google may no longer use this markup to power search enhancements.
From an SEO perspective, this doesn’t make the markup wrong, but it does mean that relying on these schema types to impact Google search results is no longer guaranteed.
Other platforms (e.g. Bing, enterprise search, AI assistants, data aggregators) may still rely on this structured data.
Guidance for SEO & Content Teams
1. Review schema usage on client sites
We should take a fresh look at the schema currently in place across client websites, with particular attention to areas like Event and Dataset markup, as well as any structured data that may have been added primarily to trigger Google rich results.
The goal here is to make sure everything is still technically valid, correctly aligned with what’s actually shown on the page, and genuinely useful from a data and clarity perspective - not just implemented for SERP appearance.
As part of this review, we’ll also want to flag any cases where schema seems to have been added purely for Google enhancement, rather than supporting broader structured understanding of the content.
2. Update reporting and recommendations
When auditing or reporting on schema, it’s important not to label Event or Dataset markup as “errors” or “unnecessary” simply because Google no longer supports them for rich results.
Instead, we should be careful to separate two different things:
- the direct impact on Google SERP features (which may now be limited or non-existent), and
- the wider value schema still provides across the broader SEO and data ecosystem.
The messaging here should shift slightly. Rather than saying “this schema no longer works,” it’s more accurate to explain that:
“This schema no longer influences Google rich results, but it remains valuable for other platforms, structured data use cases, and AI-driven content understanding.”
3. When schema should remain in place
In general, schema should be kept in place when it continues to add real value - especially where it helps machines interpret content more clearly, supports discoverability beyond Google, and aligns with longer-term goals around SEO, structured data, and AI readiness.
For example, Event schema can still be useful for organisations promoting events across multiple platforms, and Dataset schema remains relevant for research-driven sites, reports, or proprietary data assets that benefit from clearer structured context.
4. When schema may be deprioritised
Schema can be reviewed or potentially simplified in cases where it was originally added purely to chase a now-deprecated Google feature, or where it introduces technical complexity without offering clear value beyond Google.
It’s also worth reassessing schema if the underlying content is outdated or no longer relevant.
That said, any removals should always be intentional and properly documented - not something done automatically just because Google has changed its rich result support.
Guidance for Marketing Teams
It’s also worth reviewing the standard SEO tasks included in our marketing plans and retainers.
In particular, we should check for any deliverables that still reference Google rich results tied to schema types that have now been deprecated, or any automated “schema optimisation” work that may no longer lead to visible outcomes in Google search.
Where needed, the focus can shift slightly - framing schema work more as structured data optimisation for broader platform and AI understanding, rather than purely as a way to trigger SERP features.
It may also be a good time to update how we measure success here, moving beyond rich result appearance alone and towards wider discoverability and data clarity.
Key takeaway
Google’s reduced support for certain schema types is really more of a shift in reporting and expectations - it isn’t, by itself, a reason to abandon structured data altogether.
Our approach should stay Google-aware, but not Google-only. The focus should remain on long-term SEO value, interoperability across platforms, and overall AI readiness.
Most importantly, we need to be clear and accurate in how we explain schema’s role to clients, especially when the benefit is no longer tied directly to rich results.
If there’s any uncertainty, it’s usually better to keep the schema in place and update the explanation, rather than removing it automatically.