Job listings, Google adds new structured data for Search

News admin 17 August 2021

Finding a job can be a time-consuming process and the outcome of the question can change life: this opens the blog article with which Google anticipates the latest news introduced to improve search results for job listings, in the wake of what has already started in past years with Google Jobs, with the aim of providing people looking for work with authentic, fresh and reliable content.

Google’s news for job listings

There are two interventions announced by Google in the post written by Gilad Orly, Google Search Product Manager: a new ownership of structured data specific to job advertisements and a new policy on editorial content, that will allow users to understand the content of a job advertisement and to request it easily directly or otherwise.

Both changes have come to the end of an improving tools process: to better understand the views of users, Google has “asked tens of thousands of job seekers around the world to tell us more about their experience when applying for online jobs”; based on these feedback, common themes have been identified to help improve the quality of the search engine results.

The new markup of direct application for job listings

The most important news is the introduction of the directApply property, an optional way that allows those who submit a job advertisement to report if the site offers a direct application experience.

This markup is suitable for job advertisements that satisfy a certain set of user actions necessary to apply for the job, that is a short and direct process. Specifically, a site offers a “direct application experience”, as defined by Google, if it meets one of these requirements:

The interested user completes the application process directly on the website.
Once you arrive at the page from Google, you must click apply and provide personal information no more than once to complete the application process.

In other words, if the job proposal requires applicants to upload a resume and then type all the same information back into a form, it is not suitable for this markup, as Matt Southern explains.

Site owners may already start using this markup, but they may not see any immediate effect in search results, as Google’s work to integrate this information into its index is still ongoing.

The new policy on editorial content

It will be enforced on October 1, 2021 the new policy on editorial content for job offers on Google Search, designed to ensure that users can understand content and can easily apply for work, but also to improve the quality of results and develop new features within the product.

The policy indicates a number of aspects to be respected for a standard ad and includes, in particular, indications on text and obstructive images, excessive and distracting ads or content that do not add any value to the job offer. In addition, Google asks that job advertisements also follow basic grammatical rules, such as using capital letters correctly.

Google’s tips on job listings

Based on the results of Google surveys, the article also reports some best practices to follow on the site to solve some of the common problems encountered by job seekers and improve trust.
Do not include incorrect or misleading information in the job post or markup. With a view to providing users with clear and precise details, Google requires us to ensure that information such as salary, position, working time, type of employment or other specific work details is correct and verified. In summary, the job advertisement must describe the job properly and the markup must be an accurate representation of the job advertisement.

Do not post scamming ads. As it is easy to guess, Google sent to verify that the site is not displaying fraudulent job advertisements or spam, or at least ads that do not represent a real job opportunity, and to mark only the pages with a single and viable job opportunity.
Ensure a good user experience. Sites with poor user experience are, according to feedback from Google users, those that request information about the user when they are not needed, have poor quality pages (for example, excessive or obstructive ads) and/ or have complex application processes (for example, they lead to many redirects). Poor user experience also reduces the rate of application completion.
Remove expired job offers. Landing on an expired job advertisement, especially after some redirects, is a very frustrating experience, as well as applying and not receiving an answer from the employer is a common complaint among job seekers: therefore, we must not leave a job open if we do not accept more new nominations. From a technical point of view, Google suggests removing the closed or expired work proposal from the site and, at the same time, removing the markup or updating the validThrough property; In addition, the use of the indexing API to update the search engine on the change is encouraged.
Enter an authenticated date of publication of the work. Users use freshness as a signal to assess whether a position accepts new candidates, the chances of being hired, the attractiveness of the position and more. Therefore, it is not recommended to mask old works as new nor to update the Dateposted property if no actual changes have been made to the open workplace.
Do not include incorrect or misleading information in the job post or markup. With a view to providing users with clear and precise details, Google requires us to ensure that information such as salary, position, working time, type of employment or other specific work details is correct and verified. In summary, the job advertisement must describe the job properly and the markup must be an accurate representation of the job advertisement.