In short. data-nosnippet excludes selected text from Google snippets through an attribute on span, div or section elements.

Definition: data-nosnippet is an HTML attribute that excludes selected text from Google search result snippets, the descriptive text accompanying a result. As of 17 October 2026, Google's robots meta tag specification supports it on span, div and section elements.

Key facts

Google's robots meta tag specification treats data-nosnippet as a boolean attribute: its presence activates it, and any supplied value is ignored.
Google's snippet documentation assigns separate controls to different scopes: data-nosnippet excludes selected regions, nosnippet suppresses a page's snippet, and max-snippet limits snippet length.
Google's AI features documentation includes data-nosnippet among the controls for limiting information shown from pages in Search's AI features.

Where is the attribute added?

Google's HTML attribute specification places data-nosnippet on supported elements around the text being excluded. Its example marks part of a paragraph:

<p>This text can be shown in a snippet
<span data-nosnippet>and this part would not be shown</span>.</p>

The surrounding text remains available for a snippet. A div or section can enclose a larger region. The same specification requires valid HTML with appropriately closed tags; its invalid example warns that an unclosed div includes all subsequent content in the exclusion.

For custom elements, Google instructs publishers to wrap or render them with a supported div, span or section element. The exclusion belongs on that supported element.

How does JavaScript affect the attribute?

Rendering processes a page and runs its JavaScript to produce HTML for indexing, as described in Google's JavaScript SEO basics. Google's guidance for this attribute says extraction can happen before or after rendering. It advises against adding or removing data-nosnippet on existing elements through JavaScript.

For elements created through JavaScript, the same guidance says to include the attribute when the element is initially added to the page. This makes the exclusion part of the element from its creation.

What does it change in Google's AI search?

Google's AI features guidance identifies preview controls, including data-nosnippet, as the mechanism for limiting information shown from pages in Search. That guidance covers AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google's AI features within Search.

The same guidance separately points to Google-Extended for controls covering some other Google systems. It places data-nosnippet among the controls for Search previews and AI features.

How is an implementation checked?

Google's preview-control troubleshooting instructions recommend the URL Inspection tool to inspect the HTML Googlebot receives. An implementation review checks that the marked region appears inside a supported element and that its closing tag encloses exactly the intended text.

Google also requires crawlers to have access to pages containing these settings, according to the robots specification. After a change, its AI features guidance says Google needs time to crawl the page again and process the control. That process can take several days to several months.

FAQ

Does data-nosnippet="false" allow the text into snippets?

No. Google's specification explicitly shows data-nosnippet="false" excluding text because all values are ignored. You must remove the attribute to remove that exclusion.

Does it also exclude structured data inside the region?

Structured data supplies explicit information for search presentation. The same specification states that structured data remains usable for search results when declared inside a data-nosnippet element; you manage that information by changing the structured data types and values themselves.

Sources

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