Google has added one more type of structured data to its growing list of structured data reports in Search Console.
A dedicated report on ‘datasets’ structured data is now available in Search Console. Those who are using dataset structured data on their website will find the new report in under the Enhancements sections.
Google introduced a new search engine last year which only surfaces datasets for research purposes. In order to have content surfaced in this search engine, site owners are required to use dataset structured data.
If you’re not using dataset structured data on your website then you will not see this report in your Search Console. That’s just as well because the report wouldn’t be relevant to you anyway.
What is Dataset Structured Data?
Dataset structured data is used to help Google identify sets of data, which then make them eligible to appear in Google’s dataset search engine.
Examples of what could qualify as a dataset include:
- A table or a CSV file with some data
- An organized collection of tables
- A file in a proprietary format that contains data
- A collection of files that together constitute some meaningful dataset
- A structured object with data in some other format that you might want to load into a special tool for processing
- Images capturing data
- Files relating to machine learning, such as trained parameters or neural network structure definitions
Google also adds “anything that looks like a dataset to you” can qualify for dataset markup.
To learn more about how to implement dataset structured data, see Google’s developer document here.
