Google Shutting down Structured Data Testing Tool

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RC UniFirst

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Jul 8, 2020, 7:20:04 AM7/8/20
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This tool is being shut down
The Structured Data Testing Tool is being deprecated. For validating structured data for Google Search, Google now recommends using the Rich Results Test for more accurate and actionable feedback. For more information on this deprecation, read our blog post.
Thoughts? 

Jay Gray

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Jul 8, 2020, 7:34:57 AM7/8/20
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We have valid JSON-LD structures (valid on GSDTT) that are not valid on RRT.

There may be some simple syntax-related reasons, such as: all test snips must be wrapped in <html>.
Currently we simply submit stand-alone <script>(s) as code (not a URL).

There's a certain amount of anxiety when something that previously was valid is no longer valid.
New feature/function is always welcome, and we need to learn how to use it.

But we're concerned about error messages for "valid-GSDTT-structures" that that fail RRT.
/jay

Peter Macinkovic

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Jul 8, 2020, 7:40:24 AM7/8/20
to RC UniFirst, Semantic Search Marketing
It is a shame. The Structured Data Testing Tool is as its namesake - a testing tool for Structured Data.

Testing with SDTT was quick, easily and flexible. 

The RRT is lot a replacement for it, far from it. It exposes Google Rich Results but doesn't display the context. For example, and item List of Products shows as just the products like its an array - the structure is invisible! 

I am playing with the Yandex WMT API for SD and I might have to build my own easy to use interface in lieu of this. 



It is sad. Honestly, it is. 



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jarnovandriel

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Jul 8, 2020, 7:42:26 AM7/8/20
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As an alternative you can also use http://linter.structured-data.org.

It doesn't check for Google/Bing/Yandex guidelines but it does check syntax and schema.org specific semantics.

RC UniFirst

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Jul 8, 2020, 8:16:32 AM7/8/20
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I agree Peter and think the SDTT was  a really great leaning tool as well!


On Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 7:40:24 AM UTC-4, Peter Macinkovic wrote:
It is a shame. The Structured Data Testing Tool is as its namesake - a testing tool for Structured Data.

Testing with SDTT was quick, easily and flexible. 

The RRT is lot a replacement for it, far from it. It exposes Google Rich Results but doesn't display the context. For example, and item List of Products shows as just the products like its an array - the structure is invisible! 

I am playing with the Yandex WMT API for SD and I might have to build my own easy to use interface in lieu of this. 



It is sad. Honestly, it is. 



On Wed, 8 Jul 2020, 9:20 pm RC UniFirst, <unifirst...@gmail.com> wrote:
This tool is being shut down
The Structured Data Testing Tool is being deprecated. For validating structured data for Google Search, Google now recommends using the Rich Results Test for more accurate and actionable feedback. For more information on this deprecation, read our blog post.
Thoughts? 

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Gregg Kellogg

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Jul 8, 2020, 2:32:15 PM7/8/20
to Jarno van Driel, Semantic Search Marketing
The Linter is open-source [1] and completely unencumbered and I would welcome updates which would make it more valuable for the community.

One limiting factor is that there is no budget for this, and it has been hosted on a free Heroku dyno from the beginning, which also means it has no SSL certificate. If someone would like to provide better hosting for it, it could sustain a greater load.
On Jul 8, 2020, at 4:42 AM, jarnovandriel <jarnov...@gmail.com> wrote:

As an alternative you can also use http://linter.structured-data.org.

It doesn't check for Google/Bing/Yandex guidelines but it does check syntax and schema.org specific semantics.

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Joey Gartin

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Jul 8, 2020, 3:58:00 PM7/8/20
to Gregg Kellogg, Jarno van Driel, Semantic Search Marketing
I'll provide the hosting environment.  Is this your project - Gregg?

Kingsley Idehen

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Jul 8, 2020, 7:09:40 PM7/8/20
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On 7/8/20 7:42 AM, jarnovandriel wrote:
> As an alternative you can also use http://linter.structured-data.org.
>
> It doesn't check for Google/Bing/Yandex guidelines but it does check syntax and schema.org specific semantics.


You can also check you Structured Data Islands embedded in HTML docs via
our Structured Data Sniffer Browser Extensions:

[1]
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/openlink-structured-data/egdaiaihbdoiibopledjahjaihbmjhdj?hl=en
-- Chrome and other Web Extension compliant browsers

[2]
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/openlink-structured-data-sniff/
-- Firefox

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Jeannie Hill

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Jul 8, 2020, 7:49:17 PM7/8/20
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Martin Splitt shared on Reddit today:

There is work underway for better structured data checks in Lighthouse, but that'll probably take a little longer. We actually have an intern working on that this intern season! I'm really excited about that!

Regarding Rich Results Test vs. Lighthouse (and allow me to also touch upon Structured Data Testing Tool while we're at it)... well, there's a fundamental difference between the three!

- Lighthouse strives to provide vendor-agnostic best practice guidance for web developers. As such, guidance that is specific to Google Search isn't going to land in Lighthouse core. We are considering a Lighthouse plugin, though, similar to what Google Ads offers.
- Rich Results Test is a tool to check if the structured data is valid for a website to be eligible for rich results, it's not a generic structured data testing tool. It'll certainly grow and continue to be an important staple in making websites that are eligible for rich results.
- Structured Data Testing Tool is a bit weird, IMHO. It tests for all sorts of structured data based on schema.org - all of that is valuable and great, but it confuses people as what that means for their pages in SERPs on Google. And what if something is recommended from a schema.org perspective but required for rich results? It's a Google Search related tool, so what should it show? There isn't the one true answer to that, I think.

There are a bunch of solutions in the working for general structured data testing and guidance, but I think having a clearer separation between what's Google specific structured data and what's open source schema.org structured data guidance is a good thing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TechSEO/comments/hn4zqs/ask_me_anything_about_js_and_google_search/  

jarnovandriel

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Jul 9, 2020, 7:49:11 AM7/9/20
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"I would welcome updates which would make it more valuable for the community."

After some searching I found the re-design/sketch I made a few years ago (still have the original Photoshop file). Unfortunately I was unable to find anybody willing to help me realize it. If there's somebody (with sufficient frontend skills) that's willing to help me I'm still open to work on it. 

SDL.png


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