Google Retires 7 Structured Data Features To Streamline Search Results

In a notable shift for webmasters and SEO professionals, Google is introducing a major simplification in its search ecosystem. The Google structured data update 2025 is now rolling out, with the company officially retiring seven structured data features that once provided added flair to search listings. This update won’t disrupt how pages are ranked, but it will change how certain results appear visually on the search results page.

For those who rely on these structured data types, especially within niche verticals like education, publishing, and automotive, understanding the reasoning behind this change and its broader implications is key to adapting effectively.

Why Google Is Making These Changes?

According to Google’s official announcement, the goal is simple: reduce clutter and enhance the overall utility of the search experience. Over time, the team found that several structured data types were underused or no longer delivering meaningful value to users.

The Google structured data update 2025 is designed to eliminate these redundancies by retiring seldom-used schema types. While the change does impact visual layout—such as rich results previously powered by Book Actions or Claim Reviews—Google has emphasized that structured data ranking impact will be negligible.

In other words, the update is purely aesthetic and functional—not algorithmic. Your search rankings won’t drop because of this, but the enhanced visual snippets may disappear.

Which Features Are Being Retired?

With the intent of focusing more on widely-used features, Google has listed the following retired schema types in Google Search:

1. Book Actions

The Book actions schema deprecated notice is especially important for publishers. This schema allowed action buttons (like “Buy” or “Preview”) to appear next to book listings directly in Google Search. While this added convenience for users, data suggests it wasn’t widely adopted across the web.

After the Google structured data update 2025, book publishers will notice a simpler display—without interactive buttons—but content indexing remains unaffected.

2. Course Info

The educational sector sees a significant change with the Course info and salary schema changes. This structured data previously displayed course details, such as instructor name, description, and learning outcomes, directly in rich snippets.

Despite its usefulness, its retirement reflects low usage and shifting priorities. Websites can still display such information on-page, but no additional search snippet styling will be applied.

3. Claim Review

In efforts to combat misinformation, the ClaimReview schema enabled fact-checking organizations to display verification statuses alongside headlines. However, Google now finds this method less effective for real-time updates and user clarity.

With the Google removes claim review markup decision, fact-check summaries will no longer be emphasized in the search interface, even though the content remains crawlable.

4. Estimated Salary

A feature once used by job boards and HR platforms, the Estimated Salary schema helped show average compensation for specific roles.

Following the Course info and salary schema changes, this enhancement is now being phased out. Google suggests continuing to display salary details directly on the site, as the structured data ranking impact is still minimal.

5. Learning Video

Educational creators and video-first platforms might notice that their video content no longer appears with enriched learning details.

This is another outcome of the retired schema types in Google Search list. The Google structured data update 2025 no longer supports rich enhancements for learning videos, opting instead for a cleaner and more standardized video snippet experience.

6. Special Announcement

Initially introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the SpecialAnnouncement schema was created to display time-sensitive alerts—such as closures or emergency changes—in a highlighted box within search results.

Given its highly contextual use and decreasing need post-pandemic, this schema joins the list of deprecated formats. This contributes to the broader goal of search results visual enhancements removed.

7. Vehicle Listing

Automotive listings have also been simplified. Previously, structured data allowed for enriched car listings complete with pricing, specifications, and call-to-action options.

After the Google structured data update 2025, these visual perks will be scaled down. Dealers and car marketplaces can still index their content as usual, but the vehicle listing display will lose some of its enhanced search presence.

What Changes for Websites?

The most significant shift here is in search results visual enhancements removed—not in visibility, ranking, or SEO performance. Rich elements powered by the above schema types will simply no longer show up.

There’s no need to panic. If your site currently uses these structured data types, they won’t lead to errors or ranking drops. Google will continue to crawl and index your content normally.

This move is less about penalization and more about re-prioritization. Google’s latest simplification strategy is part of a larger trend to reduce information overload and focus on high-value interactions.

What’s Next?

If you’re managing a site impacted by these changes, rest easy—no immediate action is required. However, it’s wise to review your existing structured data and decide whether maintaining these markups still serves a non-Google purpose (such as internal search engines or external platforms).

Continue to monitor updates, especially as Course info and salary schema changes, the Book actions schema deprecated status, and the Google removes claim review markup may indirectly influence user behavior and engagement.

Looking ahead, SEO professionals and developers should:

• Audit schema usage regularly.
• Adapt to changes without depending on outdated visual formats.
• Focus on structured data types that continue to offer rich value.

FAQs

1. Does the Google Structured Data Update 2025 affect search rankings?

Not directly — it affects rich results visibility, but removing deprecated schema may reduce click-through rates.

2. Which schema types did Google retire in the 2025 update?

Google retired seven types, including HowTo, FAQPage (for most sites), and older review-based markups.

3. Does Google still support FAQ rich results in 2025?

Yes, but only for government and health-related sites — all others no longer show FAQ rich results.

4. What are Google’s FAQPage structured data guidelines 2025?

Only authoritative sources can use FAQPage markup; content must match on-page text and avoid promotional use.

5. Are FAQ rich results still limited in 2025 Google?

Yes, Google has significantly restricted FAQ rich results to improve SERP quality and reduce spam.

6. Are HowTo rich results deprecated in 2024 and 2025?

Yes, Google completely phased out HowTo rich results for both desktop and mobile in 2024–2025.

7. What are Google’s HowTo structured data guidelines 2025?

They remain available for reference, but the markup is now ignored and won’t appear in rich results.

8. What review snippet structured data types are supported in 2025?

Google still supports Product, Book, Course, and LocalBusiness review snippets under updated quality rules.

9. Are Google review snippets still supported in 2025?

Yes, but only when reviews are first-party, transparent, and not auto-generated or syndicated

10. What’s the best practice going forward after the 2025 update?

Use only valid, supported schema types and regularly check Search Console for structured data errors or warnings.