What must be left out of a course name in Google's markup?

Definition: In Google's Course structured data, name is the title of the course. Leave promotional phrases, prices, discount or purchase language, and claims that describe something other than the course out of that value.

Key facts

• Google's course list documentation says each course needs valid name and provider properties and gives four invalid naming patterns.
• Schema.org defines name as the name of an item and description as its description, while its Course definition also lists offers as a separate property for an offer to provide the item.
• Schema.org's Offer definition describes price as the offer price, so a price is modelled separately from the course name.

Which wording does Google reject in a course name?

Google's course list documentation marks promotional phrases as invalid, using “Best school in the world” as its example. A course name should therefore identify the educational course rather than advertise the provider or make a broad quality claim. The same guidance marks prices in course titles as invalid, with “Learn ukulele - only $30!” as its example.

Google also marks a title that describes something other than a course as invalid. Its example is “Make money fast with this class!”, which describes a result or sales proposition rather than the course itself. Discount or purchase language is also listed as invalid, including “Leaders in their fields share their secrets - 25% off!”.

The page describes name as a required property whose value is “The title of the course.” That wording sets the field's role: use the course title there, and keep promotional or transactional wording out of it.

Where should prices and other sales details go?

Schema.org separates the identity of an item from information about an offer. Its Course page defines name as “The name of the item” and description as “A description of the item.” The same page lists offers as an offer to provide the item, which gives price or purchase information a separate place in the vocabulary.

The Schema.org Offer type defines price as “The offer price of a product, or of a price component when attached to PriceSpecification and its subtypes.” It also instructs publishers to use priceCurrency instead of ambiguous currency symbols in the value. These definitions explain the data-model separation, while Google's course guidance specifically identifies putting a price in the course title as invalid.

What does a clean course object look like?

Google's example keeps the course title, short description, and provider in separate properties. The example is a Course object and uses an educational title without a price, discount, provider claim, or purchase prompt:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Course",
  "name": "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming",
  "description": "Introductory CS course laying out the basics.",
  "provider": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "University of Technology - Eureka",
    "sameAs": "https://www.example.com"
  }
}

Google requires markup for at least three courses for the course list feature. Each course uses name for its title, description for its description, and provider for the organization that publishes the source content of the course.

Related terms

• Structured data
• JSON-LD
• How long is the displayed description in a Google course list?
• How is the course provider identified in course list markup?

FAQ

Can a course title contain a price?

No. Google's course list documentation gives “Learn ukulele - only $30!” as an invalid example of a price in a course title.

Can a course name include a discount or purchase prompt?

No. Google lists discounts and purchase opportunities among invalid naming practices, with “25% off!” in its example.

Should the course description carry promotional claims instead?

The sources define description as a description of the item and name as the item's name. They do not define a general permission to move a rejected course-name claim into the description.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Course list (Course) structured data", 8 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "Course", 16 September 2026
3. Schema.org, "Offer", 16 September 2026

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