A new structured data element for image license metadata has been released by Google that allows Google Images to show a licensable image label in the search results.
The CEPIC, the European picture agency, wrote about this on its blog saying “We are happy to share now that Google Images is releasing a metadata framework through Schema.org for licensable images. Google will also be supporting the IPTC metadata standard. Content creators and distributors will be able to include the licensing information for pictures on their site, and it will be reflected on Google Images.”
The following images shows the licensable label or badge in the search results. It also displays added links on how to get the image and the licensing details on the image detail page within Google Image search.
Google said, “The new badging and license information display isn’t live yet, but you can prepare your content for it now.” Even though it isn’t out yet, if you can mark up your images now, it’s possible that Google will show the information in image search when it does go live.
You can find information on the technical details for this meta data over here. There are two different ways you can add metadata. Just provide Google with one form of metadata to be eligible for the Licensable badge, and either of the methods will suffice.
- Structured data: Structured data is an association between the image and the page where it appears with the mark up. You need to add structured data for every instance an image is used, even if it’s the same image.
- IPTC photo metadata: IPTC photo metadata is embedded into the image itself, and the image and metadata can move from page to page while still staying intact. You only need to embed IPTC photo metadata once per image.