Google’s 2025 Schema Shake-Up: A Strategic Guide for the Post-Rich Result Era
The End of an Era, or a New Beginning?
In a decisive move to streamline its search results, Google announced that beginning June 2025, it will phase out support for several structured data types—effectively removing rich result eligibility for Book Actions, Course Info, Claim Review, Estimated Salary, Learning Video, Special Announcement, and Vehicle Listing.
For many SEO professionals, this marks the end of an era where granular schema markup directly influenced visibility and click-through rates. But this isn’t just a sunset—it’s a strategic inflection point.
While Google simplifies its visual SERPs, other major ecosystems—including Bing, AI platforms, and voice search engines—are not following suit. This divergence in schema support raises a critical question for digital strategists:
Should SEOs abandon these now-deprecated schemas, or is there a broader, more diversified opportunity emerging across alternative search and discovery platforms?
This guide explores the implications of Google’s schema shake-up, compares support across platforms, and outlines a forward-looking SEO strategy that embraces the evolving search landscape. Let’s dive in.
1. The Official Announcement: What Google Is Deprecating and Why
Google's stated goal for this update is to simplify the user experience and reduce clutter in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This aligns with a broader push toward more streamlined, AI-driven search experiences.
As of June 2025, Google will no longer support the following seven structured data types for rich results:
- Book Actions
- Course Info
- Claim Review
- Estimated Salary
- Learning Video
- Special Announcement
- Vehicle Listing
2. Beyond Google: Where Deprecated Schemas Still Thrive
The value of structured data extends far beyond Google's visual rich results. This markup provides machine-readable context that is crucial for a growing number of digital ecosystems.
Bing's Counter-Position
Bing has not announced any similar deprecations and continues to recognize these schema types to enhance its search results. Because platforms like Yahoo and DuckDuckGo rely heavily on Bing’s index, structured data optimized for Bing can also surface on these search engines. This strategic consideration is even more critical for international SEO, as other engines like Yandex and Baidu also continue to leverage schema.org markup broadly.
Fueling AI Platforms
Structured data provides the clear, unambiguous context that improves the accuracy of AI-driven platforms like Copilot and ChatGPT. For example, ClaimReview schema boosts the credibility of fact-checking information, while Course Info helps AI accurately recommend relevant educational content.
Powering Voice Search
Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri rely on structured data to provide direct, conversational answers. For instance, schemas power queries like, "What’s the average salary for a data scientist?" (Estimated Salary) and "Find online courses about AI" (Course Info).
3. Strategic Comparison: Google vs. Bing Schema Support
| Schema Type | Google (Post-June 2025) | Bing & Others | Strategic SEO Value | Traffic Potential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book Actions | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | Useful for publishers | Moderate |
| Course Info | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | High for education | High |
| Claim Review | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | Critical for fact-checking | High |
| Estimated Salary | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | Strong for job boards | High |
| Learning Video | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | Valuable for tutorials | Moderate |
| Special Announcement | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | Niche impact | Low-Moderate |
| Vehicle Listing | ❌ Phased out | ✅ Supported | High for Automotive SEO | High |
Content Flow Chart: Schema Shake-Up & Related SEO Topics
Google’s 2025 Schema Shake-Up: A Strategic Guide
Understand what Google deprecated and why, plus how it impacts rich results and strategy.
AI Authority & Voice Search
How structured data powers voice assistants and authority signals across AI platforms.
AI Overview in Search Results
How AI-generated overviews reshape SERPs and why schema still matters beyond Google.
Schema Markup by Service Package
Practical, industry‑specific schema implementations (jobs, courses, vehicles, and more).
Multiple Schema Markups
Layer different schema types on a single page to maximize visibility.
4. Your Action Plan: A Strategic Framework for Modern SEO
- Audit Your Existing Markup: Identify all pages on your site currently using the seven deprecated schema types.
- Segment Your Strategy by Platform: For Google, focus on FAQ, Product, and Review. For Bing/International, keep deprecated schemas active.
- Embrace an Omnichannel Future: Schema is a tool for discoverability across search, AI, and voice ecosystems.
- Don't Strip Your Markup: The most forward-thinking practice is to keep these schemas in place for Bing and AI utility.
- Future-Proof Your Technical SEO: Monitor Bing Webmaster Tools and stay updated on evolving guidelines from all major engines.
5. The Community Debate: Cost-Cutting or Search Evolution?
- Is it a cost-saving measure to reduce engineering overhead?
- Is it a signal of shifting employment needs within Google's search teams?
- Is it a leap toward a next-level search experience prioritizing AI over cluttered rich results?
Structured Data’s Future Is a Pivot, Not a Sunset
Google’s decision to phase out these schema types is not the death of structured data—it’s a strategic pivot toward simplification. While Google’s SERPs will appear cleaner, the underlying importance of machine‑readable data across the broader digital ecosystem is only growing.
For SEO professionals, this shift is a reminder that structured data is bigger than Google. Bing, AI platforms, and voice search engines continue to value these schemas, using them to power product discovery and conversational answers.
Maintaining these markups is not a legacy task—it is an essential strategic imperative for brands serious about omnichannel discoverability. This isn’t the end of structured data—it’s a pivot. SEOs who embrace this divergence will be best positioned to thrive.
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