Recently I've been playing around with adding Schema Markup to enhance certain posts on this blog. Something I've just noticed and found out is that Schema Markup removes Google Authorship in Google's Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
In this picture you can see a NameCheap Review I posted awhile ago if you do a search for “NameCheap Review” in Google's SERPS. I wanted to see if implementing Schema markup would improve my Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings and give me higher Click-Through-Rates (CTR) to my sites.
Indeed the Schema markup I put on the page was being picked up and read by Google but it was no longer showing my Google Authorship picture profile next to the post. This means Google is cherry picking what Rich Snippet markup they feel is most relevant to show in a search query. This kind of makes sense but I thought Google wanted to show as much Rich Snippets to a user before they click on a website. They don't want to show the Schema markup (star ratings) along with the Google Authorship picture?
The fact that Schema Markup removes Google Authorship in the SERPs is just plain annoying and stupid in my opinion. They make a big friggin deal about implementing Schema but for reviews if it is going to override your Google+ picture, why would put Schema data in a review post?
Since I hadn't ever seen anyone else use Schema data and Google Authorship in the Google's SERPS when doing searches before I guess I shouldn't be surprised it didn't work. The thing is if it is the choice between Schema markup in a review and having Google display my Google+ Authorship profile, you'd go with the picture everytime. It creates more trust and I almost guarantee it will give you better CTRs to your websites.
Here is a post in Google's SERPS about Google celebrating 10 Years of Google Adsense. You can see my Google Authorship markup .
If Google wants to improve search quality and help people find “High quality content” (still trying to figure what the fuck that means to Google!) they should allow show both Schema data and Google Authorship in review posts. I am tired of finding this shit out the hard way!
Let's hear from readers of my blog since I know I have some from my analytics. Since Schema Markup removes Google Authorship would this encourage or discourage you from using it in posts on your blog and sites? Does Google make you angry sometimes since they are not always clear about these things?
UPDATE: Some people have asked me how to fix Schema data and markup from showing up in Google SERPS for you websites content and posts. It's simple, just remove all the Schema markup on pages and posts you don't want it showing up on in SERPs. It might take Google a few days to over a week to update and show your Google+ authorship picture.
I removed Schema markup from this websites as it doesn't make sense to have it here. If this was a review or ratings site it probably would be a good idea to have Schema data implemented on pages.
I seem to have a bias in favor of Google Authorship for simple blogs. For review and e-commerce sites, I would go for schema markup though.
Depends what sort of blog but I’d prefer Google Authorship for any blog I am running too. E-commerce sites are a different ballgame and it would be wise to use Schema markup.
For this problem is the other way around, my review Schema data is not used but my Authorship is. Google used to give you both around 12 months ago. your Schema review stars with a smaller head shot picture.
Google indeed cherry pick what goes in Serps.
The Serps mark up I have noticed also changes depending on what browser you use.
It’s all a nonsense and is really frustrating!
I agree Peter, it is really frustrating what Google does. You spend a longtime learning about search engine optimization, how Google works, Google+ authorship, metadata, Schema and all that was for nothing when you run tests like this. I can’t believe Google decides to cherry pick what goes into search engine results pages instead of allowing a webmaster to say, “Hey, I want to see my picture next to my posts.” or “I want schema data to show.”
Interesting that Google used to allow you to have Schema and Google+ authorship markup. I wonder why they took it away? Maybe they couldn’t figure out how to parse data correctly or it was just beta testing they were doing. Spammers could have been exploiting it as well.
By the way if you want Google to show your Schema markup you’ll probably have to remove your Google+ authorship on your websites. I doubt you want to do that though.