In short. Subscription content markup identifies restricted articles and their paywalled sections through isAccessibleForFree and hasPart properties.

Definition: Subscription content markup is structured data that identifies articles and article sections requiring a subscription or registration. It connects an article's access restrictions to the corresponding sections in its HTML.

Key facts

As of 17 October 2026, Google's subscription and paywalled content documentation requires isAccessibleForFree and recommends hasPart properties to identify restricted sections.
Schema.org defines isAccessibleForFree as a flag indicating free access, with a Boolean value: true or false.
Google's robots metadata specification supports data-nosnippet on span, div and section elements to exclude selected text from search snippets.

How does the markup identify a paywalled section?

Google's paywall guide places a class around each restricted HTML section. The article's structured data sets isAccessibleForFree to false; its hasPart object identifies a WebPageElement, also marked false. The cssSelector value points to that section's class.

This HTML follows Google's example:

<p>This content is outside a paywall and is visible to all.</p>
<div class="paywall">This content is inside a paywall, and requires a subscription or registration.</div>

The corresponding paywall fields appear in this abbreviated example using JSON-LD, one of Google's accepted structured data formats. Other article properties are omitted here.

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

For separate restricted sections, the same guide uses an array of hasPart objects, each with its own class selector. Google accepts JSON-LD and microdata, requires .class selectors for cssSelector, and prohibits nesting the marked content sections.

What must the website make accessible?

Google's implementation guidance applies to content intended for crawling and indexing, including content requiring registration. Its supported types include Article and NewsArticle, within the broader CreativeWork type.

For indexing of restricted content, Googlebot must have access to the page, including the paywalled sections; Googlebot-News also needs access where applicable. Google's spam policies define cloaking as presenting different content to users and search engines with the intent to manipulate search rankings and mislead users. The paywall guide says its markup helps Google distinguish paywalled content from that practice.

The guide also addresses browser access: when restricted text must be unavailable to the browser at serving time, the paywall implementation must withhold that text. The class and JSON-LD fields describe the restricted section; the paywall implementation controls delivery.

How is the implementation checked?

Google's validation instructions call for the Rich Results Test and correction of critical errors. The URL Inspection tool checks how Google crawls and renders a page. These checks cover both the structured data and the content available to the crawler.

The same documentation requires the markup steps across all page versions, including AMP and non-AMP. Where both versions exist, their bot access policies must match to avoid content mismatch errors in Search Console.

FAQ

Does a registration requirement count?

Yes. Google's paywall guide covers content requiring registration as well as subscription access. If you want that content indexed, its access restrictions belong in the markup.

Can I keep a marked section out of search snippets?

You can apply data-nosnippet to a supported HTML element around the text. Google's robots metadata specification treats it as a Boolean attribute, so even data-nosnippet="false" excludes the enclosed text from snippets.

Sources

Check how a page reads to answer engines. Open the GEO score analyzer