How can a paywalled article describe its restricted sections?

Definition: A paywalled article can describe restricted access with structured data, machine-readable properties attached to the page. As of 17 October 2026, Google documents isAccessibleForFree: false to mark restricted access and hasPart entries with CSS selectors to identify the affected HTML sections.

Key facts

• Google's paywalled content documentation accepts JSON-LD and microdata, including for content that requires registration.
• Google's spam policies allow paywall access differences when Google sees the same full content as an authorized reader and the publisher follows its Flexible Sampling guidance.
• Google's JavaScript troubleshooting guidance says that sending full content and then hiding it with JavaScript is an unreliable access restriction.
• Google's robots meta documentation supports data-nosnippet on span, div and section elements to exclude text from search snippets.

Which markup identifies a restricted section?

In Google's paywall guide, isAccessibleForFree is required; the section-level hasPart properties are recommended. Each hasPart object uses the type WebPageElement and a cssSelector, a pattern that identifies an HTML element by its class name.

The following extract adapts Google's NewsArticle example. The .paywall selector matches the HTML class shown below; the access properties belong in the article's structured data.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "NewsArticle",
  "isAccessibleForFree": false,
  "hasPart": {
    "@type": "WebPageElement",
    "isAccessibleForFree": false,
    "cssSelector": ".paywall"
  }
}

<div class="paywall">Paywalled Content</div>

For multiple restricted sections, the same documentation shows an array of WebPageElement objects under hasPart, each with its own selector. Google permits only .class selectors and instructs publishers to avoid nesting content sections. Its supported article types include Article and NewsArticle.

How should crawler access match reader access?

Google defines cloaking in its spam policies as serving different content to users and search engines with the intent to manipulate rankings and mislead users. The paywall exception depends on Google seeing the full content available to a person authorized to read it, together with compliance with Flexible Sampling guidance.

The paywall documentation requires access for Googlebot, and Googlebot-News where applicable, when the publisher wants the restricted material crawled and indexed. For sites with an AMP page version, the bot access policy must match the non-AMP version; differing policies can produce content mismatch errors in Search Console.

Access enforcement also needs attention. Google's JavaScript guidance advises supplying the full content only after subscription status is confirmed. Hiding text already sent to an unauthorized browser leaves that text available in the response.

How is the implementation checked?

Google's paywall guide recommends the Rich Results Test to validate the markup and fix critical errors. It also directs publishers to URL Inspection to test how Google crawls and renders the URL.

These checks address different parts of implementation: the structured data and the content Google can access. The same guide warns that policy issues can occur without a syntax error, so the Rich Results Test may miss them. The markup applies across page versions, including AMP and non-AMP.

Related terms

• Subscription content markup
• Structured data
• Cloaking
• Googlebot
• data-nosnippet

FAQ

Does this apply to registration without payment?

Yes. Google's paywall guide explicitly includes content that requires registration. You can describe its restricted sections with the same access properties.

How can I exclude restricted text from search snippets?

You can use data-nosnippet on the relevant span, div or section, as specified in Google's robots meta documentation. The attribute is boolean: even data-nosnippet="false" excludes the text.

<div class="paywall" data-nosnippet>Paywalled Content</div>

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Structured data for subscription and paywalled content (CreativeWork)", 8 September 2026
2. Google Search Central, "Spam policies for Google web search", 28 August 2026
3. Google Search Central, "Fix Search-related JavaScript problems", 18 December 2025
4. Google Search Central, "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications", 24 March 2026

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