Schema.org markup for breadcrumbs: does it finally work?

[netzkern_AG]

Hi,

TL;DR: Does https://schema.org/BreadcrumbList work?

It's been some time since I last implemented schema.org markup for breadcrumbs. Back then the situation was that google explicitly discouraged the use of the schema.org markup for breadcrumbs. In my experience it had been pretty hit or miss - sometimes it worked without issues; sometimes it did not work without obvious reason. Consequently, I ditched it for the data-vocabulary.org markup which did not give me any issues.

However, I prefer using schema.org and currently a new site is being designed for a client. Thus, I'd like to use schema.org markup for the breadcrumb - but of course only if it works now. Google has dropped the previous warning/discouragements and by now lists a schema.org code https://developers.google.com/structured-data/breadcrumbs based on the new-ish https://schema.org/BreadcrumbList.

Has anybody here used this markup on a site (preferably more than one) and can confirm whether or not it is reliably working and showing the breadcrumb trail / site hierarchy in the SERP?

Thanks for your answers!

Nico

[DmitriiK]

Hello, my friend.

The thing with schema is that it takes long time (mostly) to be displayed in SERPs and snippets. You can find lots of threads on this forum about schema taking forever to affect snippets. It usually works in terms that if it's implemented correctly, it won't return any unexpected errors.

As for breadcrumbs - yes, they do work. I have implemented them somewhat recently to our website and it's showing in SERPs. Google "hyperlinks media case study" first three results. I actually was surprised that it took only a month or so to be displayed.

Hope this helps.

[netzkern_AG]

Thanks for the input, Dmitrii and sorry for not replying sooner.

My experience is a bit different - maybe because it mainly stems from well-structured pages that was daily reindexed. Breadcrumbs generally showed up "almost instantly" (i.e. next index round) or "not at all". Same with some other cases of schema - even being deindexed and reindexed (be it after a silly mistake or the realisation that google for some unclear reason dislikes some markup within some others) within the same week has happened to me and is far from extraordinary.

My prior experience with (old) schema.org breadcrumb markup was frustrating to the point of avoiding it; but next time I shall give it a try again. Always better to not mix syntaxes.