Why can Bing ignore structured data with the wrong value type?

Definition: Bing can ignore structured data when its crawlers find that a value does not match the data type expected by the selected schema. Bing also documents missing scenario data as a reason for ignoring an annotation, including an event without a date or a person without a name.

Key facts

• Bing supports Schema.org in HTML Microdata and JSON-LD, as well as Microformats, RDFa and Open Graph. Its crawlers do not prefer one supported specification over another, according to Bing's structured data documentation.
• Bing validates annotated data against both the chosen format's schema and the specified data types. A price encoded as a date, or a date encoded as a price, is an example Bing says it will ignore.
• Bing also says an event without a date and a person without a name will be ignored.
• Schema.org defines an Event's startDate as a Date or DateTime and its name as Text in the Event definition.
• Schema.org lists price on Offer as Number or Text and priceCurrency as Text in the Offer definition.

What does Bing validate?

Structured data is markup that annotates information on a page. Bing says annotations do not change visible content, but give it information about the type of content hosted on the site. The crawler then checks the annotation against the schema for the selected format and against the value types declared for that data.

The format is a separate question from the value type. A page can use JSON-LD or HTML Microdata, but the property values still need to fit the selected data model. A diagnostic shape for an offer is:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Offer",
  "price": "<price value>",
  "priceCurrency": "<currency text>"
}

The Schema.org Offer definition gives price the ranges Number or Text and describes priceCurrency as the currency of the price. Bing's own example is stricter in operation: when a price is a date, or a date is a price, its crawlers ignore the annotation. The problem is the value's meaning in the selected property, even if the markup syntax itself can be parsed.

Which missing fields can make an annotation unusable?

Bing separates data type validation from the amount of data supplied for a scenario. It asks publishers to provide enough data for the selected scenario, then gives two concrete cases: an event without a date and a person without a name. These are missing scenario fields, rather than alternative spellings of an existing value.

Schema.org makes the expected property types visible. Its Event definition lists startDate with the ranges Date or DateTime and describes it as the start date and time of the item in ISO 8601 date format. The same page lists name with the range Text and describes it as the name of the item. A check therefore needs to cover both presence and type: the field must exist for the scenario Bing is evaluating, and its value must fit the property definition.

How should you check a failure?

Start with the item or object type, then inspect each property in the source HTML or JSON-LD. For an Event, look for a date field and compare its value with the Event definition's Date or DateTime range. For a Person, look for a name value. For an Offer, inspect whether the value assigned to price represents a price and whether priceCurrency identifies its currency.

Bing also says that the relationship between annotated content and its surroundings is considered, so the presence of markup alone is not enough for a visually rich snippet. After implementation, Bing's crawlers pick up annotations on a later visit to the page, and the documentation says annotations are processed and validated in every market even though visually rich snippets are not supported in every market.

Related terms

• Microdata
• Schema.org @id
• Person structured data

FAQ

Does using JSON-LD prevent value type failures?

No. Bing lists JSON-LD as a supported format and says its crawlers do not prefer one supported specification over another. The data type check still applies.

What happens when a price contains a date?

Bing's documentation says the crawler will ignore the annotation when a price is a date, or when a date is a price. Check the property meaning and the value together.

Is a missing field the same as a wrong value type?

They are separate validation cases. Bing gives an event without a date and a person without a name as examples of annotations that will be ignored, while a price used as a date illustrates a type mismatch.

Does valid markup ensure a rich snippet?

No. Bing says the presence of annotations alone is insufficient, because it considers the relationship between the annotated content and its surroundings.

Sources

1. Bing Webmaster Tools, "Marking Up Your Site with Structured Data", n.d.
2. Schema.org, "Event", n.d.
3. Schema.org, "Offer", n.d.

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