Google introduced that it’s discontinuing using a number of picture and video sitemap extensions. Google acknowledged they determined to sundown using these sitemap extensions after evaluating the worth of the tags. The deprecated tags and attributes could have no impact after August 6, 2022.
Google introduced that the documentation for the eliminated tags and attributes have already been eliminated.
The picture and video sitemaps will proceed to be part of the sitemap specs. The deprecation is proscribed to particular picture and video tags and attributes.
Motive for Deprecation of Picture and Video Sitemap Tags and Attributes
Deprecated, by way of computing and software program implies that a model is said to be out of date and will now not be used.
In accordance with Google, the worth of the knowledge handed via the now deprecated tags and attributes now not warranted the difficulty of utilizing them.
Google didn’t specify why on this announcement aside from to say that the worth of the tags had been evaluated and the choice to deprecate the tags had been made primarily based on that analysis.
The assertion famous:
“Over time, we launched quite a lot of tags and tag attributes for Google sitemap extensions, particularly the Picture and Video extensions. Most of those tags had been added to permit website house owners to ship knowledge extra simply to Search.
Upon evaluating the worth of the Google sitemap extension tags, we determined to formally deprecate some tags and attributes, and take away them from our documentation.”
The announcement did say that Google Search Console could subject notifications as soon as these deprecations are included within the subsequent schema variations of the affected extensions.
With a purpose to perceive what meaning, one must take heed to a latest Search Off the Report podcast that was about sitemaps.
Google’s Gary Illyes stated this in the podcast about deprecating sitemap tags and attributes:
“I believe it will be price trying into these tags and attributes, and see if they’re nonetheless helpful, as a result of a few of them have been changed or not changed, complemented, let say, with schema…
So a few of these issues, a few of these tags and attributes have structured knowledge counterpart.
And if they’ve a construction knowledge counterparts, then possibly it’s higher to provide them within the construction knowledge, as a result of then all parsing in a single place as an alternative of two completely different locations.”
In order that could be the explanation why these tags and attributes had been deprecated.
Deprecation is Not Rapid
Google has set a date of August 6, 2022 because the date that the tags and attributes will formally be discontinued, giving plugin and theme makers time to take away the deprecated tags from their sitemap output.
There isn’t a penalty or unfavorable consequence ought to publishers select to depart the discontinued tags of their sitemaps.
Nevertheless there will even be no profit to utilizing these tags.
Deprecated Picture and Video Tags
Deprecated Sitemap Picture Tags and Attributes:
These are the discontinued tags and attributes:
- <picture:caption>
- <picture:geo_location>
- <picture:title>
- <picture:license>
Google revealed a particular observe concerning the license knowledge:
“Proceed utilizing IPTC metadata for offering licensing knowledge.”
Deprecated Sitemap Video Tags and Attributes:
These are the deprecated sitemap video tags and attributes:
- <video:class>
- <video:gallery_loc>
- autoplay and allow_embed of the <video:player_loc> tag
- <video:worth> tag and its attributes
- <video:tvshow> tag and its attributes
Quotation
Learn the Official Discover of Picture and Video Sitemap Deprecations
Spring cleaning: some sitemap extension tags are going away
