Re: Assistance Needed for Structured Data Markup for B2B

Lisa, 
The documentation <https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data> Google provides on Search Console references the schema.org <http://schema.org/> structured data for product listing data or reviews. They have additional test tools linked there for specific schema classes they support and its context for search engines.  
—
Rachel Wilkins

> On Oct 2, 2024, at 1:08 PM, Lisa Powelson <lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com> wrote:
> 
> Ryan:
> Thank you for your quick response and clarification. I now understand this is more of a Google Search-specific issue than one related to schema.org <http://schema.org/> standards. I appreciate your recommendation to follow general schema.org <http://schema.org/> markup and agree that providing well-structured data is still a valuable practice, especially for future use by search engines or other platforms.
> I will continue to follow schema.org <http://schema.org/> recommendations, though it would be helpful if there were more explicit guidance for B2B products, considering the unique challenges we face with price and review data. I’ll also be looking into alternative ways to improve the visibility of our product data within the constraints you’ve outlined.
> Thank you again for your insights and direction.
>  
> Lisa Powelson
>  
> M  404.514.9673
> E lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com <mailto:lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com>
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> <image001.png>  
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>  
> From: Ryan Levering <rrlevering@google.com <mailto:rrlevering@google.com>>
> Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 12:28 PM
> To: Lisa Powelson <lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com <mailto:lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com>>
> Cc: "public-schemaorg@w3.org <mailto:public-schemaorg@w3.org>" <public-schemaorg@w3.org <mailto:public-schemaorg@w3.org>>
> Subject: Re: Assistance Needed for Structured Data Markup for B2B
>  
> This is not really a schema.org <http://schema.org/> question.  This is a "why is Google Search not using XX structured data more actively".  So please don't use this forum (and post multiple times) unless the question is more "How could I represent this information?", not "How do I cater it to Google Search?"
>  
> Google Search is not currently interested in explicitly consuming this data for our features or we would document it as such in our Google-specific documentation.  And in my personal opinion, it is not "unfair" because the query traffic/users you are competing for is likely with other B2B companies which are also not benefiting from any explicit structured data ingestion.
>  
> I would recommend you follow general schema.org <http://schema.org/> markup recommendations to describe your data (because sometimes the presence of the data itself can be a signal to future consumers of any company to invest further) but not put a lot of time into SEO optimizing this markup at this point.
>  
> On Wed, Oct 2, 2024 at 12:08 PM Lisa Powelson <lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com <mailto:lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com>> wrote:
> Dear Schema.org <http://schema.org/> Team,
> 
> I am reaching out to request assistance in understanding the best markup strategy for B2B products so that Google can effectively capture and understand them. While I understand that schema.org <http://schema.org/> itself does not require product pricing or reviews for markup, I’ve found that Google appears to rely heavily on this data to show product information in search results. For B2B companies, this seems unfair as our pricing structures are often too complex to list in a straightforward way.
> 
> It seems reasonable that structured data for products, product groups, product models, etc., should still be crawled and understood by Google, even without specific price and review information. However, I have struggled to find clear guidance on how best to implement structured data for B2B products in a way that allows for accurate crawling and representation in search results.
> 
> I have conducted extensive research, including contacting W3C, searching schema and SEO forums, and reviewing how other businesses handle this issue, but most of the information I have encountered is speculative at best.
> 
> Could you kindly provide guidance or direct me to any resources that explain how B2B companies can structure their product data to ensure it is picked up by search engines like Google? I’m particularly interested in understanding how to work within these constraints to best represent our product information.
> 
> I appreciate your help.
> 
>  
> Lisa Powelson
>  
> M  404.514.9673 <tel:(404)%20514-9673>
> E lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com <mailto:lisa@lmpowelsonconsulting.com>
>  
> <image002.png>