Bing adopts schema.org markup for special announcements for COVID-19

Bing is adding new features to help keep everyone up to date on the latest special announcements related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to our previously announced experiences for finding tallies of cases in different geographic regions, we will add announcements of special hours and closures for local businesses, information on risk assessment and testing centers, and travel restrictions and guidelines.

SpecialAnnoucement schema markup for government health agencies

Bing may consume case statistics from government health agencies at the country, state or province, administrative area, and city level that use the schema.org markup for diseaseSpreadStatistics associated with a SpecialAnnouncement. These statistics are used on bing.com/covid and other searches for COVID-19 statistics. As a government agency determining whether to use this tag for your webpages, consider whether it meets the following criteria, which are characteristics we consider when selecting case statistics to include:
 

• Your site must be the official government site reporting case statistics for your region.
• Information in the markup must be up-to-date and consistent with statistics displayed to the general public from your site.
• Your special announcement must include the date it was posted, indicating the time at which the statistics were first reported.

SpecialAnnoucements schema markup for COVID-19 related business updates 

Bing may consume special announcements from local businesses, hospitals, schools, government offices, and more that use the schema.org markup for SpecialAnnouncement. A label showing your special announcements related to the COVID-19 pandemic with a link to your site for more details may be used on web results for your official website and in local listings shown on the SERP or map experiences. This provides an easy link for your customers and community to find your latest information. When determining whether to use this tag for your webpages, consider whether it meets the following criteria, which are characteristics we consider when selecting special announcements to display:
 

• The special announcements must be posted on your official website and refer only to changes related to COVID-19 for your own business, hospital, school, or government office.
• The name of the special announcement must be easily identified within the body of the special announcement page on your site.
• Your special announcement must include the date it was posted and should also include the time the announcement expires, if appropriate.

SpecialAnnoucement schema markup for risk assessment and testing centers

Bing may consume information on risk assessments and testing centers from healthcare providers and government health agencies that use the schema.org markup for gettingTestedInfo and CovidTestingFacility. Searches for nearby testing information may include information on how to get assessed to see whether getting tested is recommended and, if so, how to locate a nearby testing facility and find instructions for getting tested at that center. When determining whether to use this tag for your webpages, consider whether it meets the following criteria, which are characteristics we consider when selecting testing information to display:
 

• Your site must be an official site for a well-known healthcare facility or government health agency.
• gettingTestedInfo must refer to a webpage that specifies what assessment is required prior to being tested at the given testing location.
• The testing facility information must refer to URLs and facility locations already associated with your provider or agency. Listing other providers’ facilities is not supported at this time.

SpecialAnnoucement schema markup for travel restrictions

Bing may consume information on travel restrictions from government agencies, travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and other travel providers that use the schema.org markup for travelBans and publicTransportClosuresInfo. Travel related searches may include information on updated hours, closures, and guidelines for travel. When determining whether to use this tag for your webpages, consider whether it meets the following criteria, which are characteristics we consider when selecting travel restrictions to display:
 

• Your site must be an official site for a well-known government agency, travel agency, airline, hotel, or other travel provider.
• The special announcement including the travel ban or public transport closure info must specify the location covered by the announcement.
• The name of the special announcement must be easily identified within the body of the special announcement page describing the ban or closure info on your site.
• Your special announcement must include the date it was posted and should also include the time the announcement expires, if appropriate.

More information on how to implement and use these tags can be found at https://schema.org/SpecialAnnouncement and Bing Webmaster special announcement specifications.

 
Source: Bing Blog Feed