Marketing 3 min read

Bing Adds Structured Data for COVID-19 Special Announcements

chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com

chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com

Bing is introducing new schema markup to update users on the latest special COVID-19 announcements.

In the past weeks, tech giants have been adding new features to their products to assist users during the current pandemic.

Last week, Microsoft launched a COVID-19 tracker that displays the number of confirmed cases worldwide. Similarly, Google also launched a website to provide searchers with access to reliable information about the virus.

Now, the Windows maker is adding another feature to Bing. And that’s adopting schema.org markup for special announcements about COVID-19.

Schema.org has developed a SpecialAnnouncement markup for urgent announcements related to the coronavirus pandemic. In its blog post, Bing broke down the special markup into the following:

  • Special hours and closures for local businesses
  • Information on risk assessment and testing centers
  • Travel restrictions and guidelines

Let’s explore further.

Schema.org Markup For COVID-19 Special Announcement

Here’s more information about the markup types.

“SpecialAnnouncement” Schema Markup for Risk Assessment and Testing Centers

Two markup types are available to government health agencies or healthcare providers to publish information about risk assessments. These are gettingTestedInfo and CovidTestingFacility.

As you may have guessed, Bing may use the markup to provide details about finding a nearby testing facility. Consequently, it considers specific characteristics when picking testing information to display.

“SpecialAnnouncement” Schema Markup for COVID-19 Related Business Updates

On the other hand, Bing can use the SpecialAnnouncement schema.org structured data to display special announcements from businesses. These include hospitals, government offices, schools, pharmacies, among others.

The markup can help communicate multiple pieces of information. Meanwhile, schema.org suggests including the following properties, at the very least.

  • Name
  • Text
  • date posted
  • Expires
  • URL
  • Category

“SpecialAnnouncement” schema Markup for Government Health Agencies

Government health agencies in countries, states, or cities can now also markup their statistics using a diseaseSpreadStatistics markup.

It’s a special announcement markup which Bing uses to pull data for its new COVID-19 tracking map. Also, the markup is useful for other searchers that involve COVID-19 statistics.

Bing points out that government agencies must meet specific criteria to use this markup on their web pages.

“SpecialAnnouncement” Schema Markup for Travel Restrictions

Travel agencies, government agencies, hotels, airlines, and travel providers can publish information using two new schema markups. These include travelBans markup as well as publicTransportClosuresInfo markup.

Along with other guidelines, the markup provides details about travel restrictions, updated hours, and closure. Similar to the other two markups, the bodies involved must also meet specific criteria to be eligible.

Read More: Google Search to Show Closed Businesses Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

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