Schema.org version 13.0 was released on July 7th, 2021. This was the second full release so far this year, but with 11 releases in 2020 we’re expecting more to come!
Here is a summary of v13 from schema.org:
This release includes improvements proposed via the Pending section, in particular a number of terms proposed by the Bioschemas project, alongside other additions around e-commerce returns policy markup, job postings, and MediaReview markup.”
There are quite a few updates to the schema.org vocabulary via the Pending section, but here are the additions that we are most excited about.
Product Updates in Schema.org Version 13.0
Version 13.0 brought many additions to merchant return policies, including adding:
- ReturnLabelSourceEnumeration (lists several types of return labels for product returns, such as ReturnLabelCustomerResponsibility, ReturnLableDownloadAndPrint, ReturnLableInBox)
- ReturnMethodEnumeration (lists several types of product return methods, such as ReturnAtKiosk, ReturnByMail, ReturnInStore)
- additionalProperty and itemCondition were added to MerchantReturnPolicy
- hasMerchantReturnPolicy was added to Offer
Ways to define return fees were added, including the following properties:
- returnMethod (the type of return method offered)
- itemDefectReturnFees (the type of return fees for defect products)
- customerRemorseReturnFees (the type of return fees for returns due to customer remorse)
- returnShippingFeesAmount (the amount of shipping cost for product returns)
- itemDefectReturnShippingFeesAmount (the amount of shipping costs for defect product returns)
- customerRemorseReturnShippingFeesAmount (the amount of shipping cost for products returned due to customer remorse)
- returnLabelSource (the method by which a customer obtains a return shipping label)
- itemDefectReturnLabelSource (the method by which a customer obtains a return shipping label for a defect product)
- customerRemorseReturnLabelSource (the method by which a customer obtains a return shipping label for a return due to customer remorse)
- restockingFee (a fixed restocking fee for product returns)
- returnPolicyCountry (the country where the product has be to sent for returns)
To improve compatibility with GS1, an organization who develops and maintains global standards for business communication such as the all-familiar barcode, countryOfLastProcessing and countryOfAssembly were added for Product.
Healthcare Updates in Schema.org Version 13.0
The following additions were proposed by the Bioschemas community.
Bioschemas aims to improve the Findability on the Web of life sciences resources such as datasets, software, and training materials.”
Several new basic life science concepts were added, including:
- Taxon (a set of organisms asserted to represent a natural cohesive biological unit)
- BioChemEntity (any biological, chemical, or biochemical thing)
- ChemicalSubstance (a subtype of BioChemEntity)
- MolecularEntity (any constitutionally or isotopically distinct atom, molecule, ion, etc)
- Gene (a discrete unit of inheritance, which affects one or more biological traits)
- Protein (in the schema.org vocabulary, Protein is used in its widest possible definition: as classes of amino acid-based molecules)
Video Updates in Schema.org Version 13.0
SeekToAction
SeekToAction is a schema.org type, and is the Action of navigating to a specific timestamp of a VideoObject. startOffset was accidentally omitted from previous SeekToAction definitions, but has been added with the latest release. startOffset is the start time of the clip, expressed as the number of seconds since the beginning of the video.
InteractionCounter
InteractionCounter is a summary of how users have interacted with the CreativeWork type, such as books, movies, photographs, software programs, etc. Subtypes can be used to specify the type of interaction.
Added:
Read more about all changes in schema.org’s Version 13.0 here.
We always get excited by updates to the schema.org vocabulary! Not only do these updates reflect Google’s continued investment in schema markup, but as the vocabulary expands we keep identifying new ways for our customers to maximize their results from structured data!
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Martha van Berkel is the co-founder and CEO of Schema App, an end-to-end Semantic Schema Markup solution provider based in Ontario, Canada. She focuses on helping SEO teams globally understand the value of Schema Markup and how they can leverage Schema Markup to grow search performance and develop a reusable content knowledge graph that drives innovation. Before starting Schema App, Martha was a Senior Manager responsible for online support tools at Cisco. She is a Mom of two energetic kids, loves to row, and drinks bulletproof coffee.