In the ever-evolving landscape of SEO and digital marketing, structured data has remained a consistent topic of conversation. From its early introduction through Schema.org to its widespread adoption by search engines, structured data promises to unlock advanced search features and improve how content is interpreted and displayed. However, as Google’s algorithm and entity understanding progress at a rapid pace, it’s time to ask: Which types of structured data still make a difference—and which ones no longer matter?
It’s apparent that not all structured data is created equal. With hundreds of schemas available to webmasters, many find themselves asking if it’s worth implementing event schemas, product reviews, or how-to markup. Let’s delve into the types of structured data that still hold value today, and which ones may no longer deserve our attention.
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What Is Structured Data and Why Was It Important?
Structured data is essentially metadata that helps search engines understand the context of page content. Implemented via JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa formats, structured data feeds search engines with machine-readable signals about a page’s elements—such as whether it contains a product, a person’s profile, or a local business.
Historically, structured data has played a significant role in enabling special search features like rich snippets, carousels, and knowledge panels. For businesses, this meant increased visibility and click-through rates, making structured data a critical component of technical SEO.
Structured Data That Still Matters in 2024
Today, some forms of structured data continue to provide measurable benefits. Here are the types that experts still consider essential.
- Product Markup: If you run an e-commerce website, product structured data remains indispensable. When applied correctly, it allows Google to display price, availability, and reviews directly in search listings—offering users quick insights and helping to drive clicks.
- Local Business Schema: For companies with physical locations, this kind of schema supports visibility in local pack results and enhances your business’s presence on Google Maps and Google Search.
- FAQ and How-To Markup: Although Google has recently dialed back its display of FAQ rich results, selective and strategic use—especially for high-impact or evergreen content—can still be beneficial in certain verticals.
- Organization and Person Schema: These schemas provide authoritative metadata about who runs a website or contributes content. They build trust and are leveraged for knowledge panel eligibility, especially for brands, publishers, and professionals with a public-facing identity.
- Article Schema: News and blog publishers benefit from this type with improved eligibility for discover features and richer display formats in search. It’s particularly important when combined with strong author and publishing metadata.
These types of markup still help Google clearly categorize pages and reward them with enhanced listings—and in some cases, structured data is required by Google to be eligible for certain features.
Structured Data Google No Longer Prioritizes
It’s worth noting that structured data only influences performance in search when it leads to contextual clarity or enhanced display. Many schemas were once considered best practices, but today offer no measurable impact.
- Breadcrumb Schema: While previously beneficial, Google now largely extracts breadcrumb trails through URL structure and on-page cues. Explicit breadcrumb markup is often redundant.
- Event Schema: Unless tied into Google’s Events and Calendar platforms or specific integrations, event markup for local happenings yields minimal benefit anymore. For broader event discovery, other optimization factors take precedence.
- VideoObject Schema Without Video Structured Data Integration: Unless you’re integrating your video with Google’s official video indexing tools and sitemaps, standalone video structured data often won’t improve video visibility as much as fully compliant implementations.
- Unverified Experimental Schemas: There’s a temptation to mark up as much as possible—bookings, recipes for non-recipe contexts, or excessive tagging of niche attributes. But doing so won’t yield ROI unless the schema is reliably supported by major platforms.
Overusing obsolete or unsupported structured data not only wastes development resources but may dilute the efficacy of valid schemas Google actively supports.
Why Google Is Getting Smarter Without It
The reason some forms of structured data are no longer as impactful is that search engines, particularly Google, have dramatically improved in natural language processing and entity recognition. Thanks to advances in machine learning and NLP models like BERT and MUM, search engines can now interpret context with far less reliance on explicit formatting.
For example, where structured data was once essential for Google to recognize a publication date or author bio, modern algorithms now interpret this from contextual cues within the HTML. This shift has made many forms of structured data informational rather than functional—they help but aren’t necessary. Consider them refinements, not foundation stones.
Best Practices: Do’s and Don’ts for Structured Data
To succeed with structured data in its current iteration, consider the following best practices:
Do:
- Use Official Validator Tools: Leverage Google’s Rich Results Test and Schema.org validator to check formatting and ensure you’re eligible for enhanced listings.
- Monitor Schema Influence in Search Console: Google Search Console provides performance reports specific to rich results—track your schema implementation and see if it’s driving clicks.
- Limit to Widely Supported Types: Focus on product, article, local business, and organization schemas which have consistent support and strong correlation with improved CTRs.
- Update and Maintain Schema: Schema can become outdated. Products go out of stock, authors change, businesses move. Maintaining accuracy is a long-term investment.
Don’t:
- Apply Markup Without Contextual Support: Adding how-to schema to a blog post that lacks step-by-step instructions won’t earn rich results. Google cross-checks context against markup.
- Expect “Secret SEO Gains”: Structured data enhances, but does not replace, content quality and relevance. It’s not a backdoor to better rankings.
- Overload Pages with Excessive Markup: More is not always better. Resolve to use markup with clear purpose and observable benefit.
What the Future Holds for Structured Data
Looking forward, structured data is likely to remain in the SEO toolbox, though its role will evolve. Google’s reliance on it for specific feature eligibility—like product feeds and merchant listings—will continue. But the era of mark-up-for-the-sake-of-mark-up is ending.
Rather than simply embedding every possible schema, high-performing SEO teams will focus on:
- Understanding which schemas lead to measurable outcomes
- Aligning markup with high-quality, relevant content
- Integrating structured data into comprehensive SEO and content planning
Moreover, as AI capabilities improve and Google continues building its Knowledge Graph, structured data may increasingly serve to reinforce factual accuracy and authority rather than drive features directly. This role—subtle, verifiable, and trust-enhancing—will be its most meaningful going forward.
Conclusion: Focus on What Matters
Structured data is no longer a magic bullet—but it’s far from irrelevant. Understanding its role, knowing where it adds real value, and staying updated on Google’s evolving feature set will ensure your schema strategy remains both effective and sustainable. Use it to clarify, support, and earn credibility within a search result—not to manipulate it.
In today’s digital landscape, valuable structured data is accurate, relevant, and limited to areas where it makes the user experience demonstrably better. All else is noise. Focus your efforts where the signal is strong, and let the rest fall away.