Structured Data Guidelines: Official Policies & Manual Actions

Q: Are manual actions the same as errors in rich results reports?

No. 'Errors' in rich results reports simply mean markup is invalid (like missing fields)—fix them and you're done, it's not a penalty. Manual actions result from violating structured data guidelines (like marking fake/invisible content, spam markup), issued by Google's manual review team, causing rich results to be removed and appearing in Search Console's 'Manual Actions' report. Manual actions are far more serious than errors and require remediation plus a reconsideration request.

Q: How do I recover from a manual action?

First check the 'Manual Actions' report in Search Console to understand the violation reason and affected scope. Then thoroughly fix all violating structured data—remove fake, invisible, or spam markup, ensuring all markup complies with guidelines and matches visible content. After deploying fixes, submit a 'reconsideration request' in that report, explaining what you corrected. Google's manual team will re-review; once passed, the manual action is lifted and rich results may gradually return.

Used correctly, structured data is your ticket to rich results. Used incorrectly, it can trigger manual actions that make your site's rich results disappear overnight. Previous articles covered "how to do it right"—this one covers "how to avoid doing it wrong": what Google's structured data guidelines are, the most common violations, what manual actions look like, and how to avoid and recover from them. This concludes the Basics series.

Three Categories of Guidelines#

Google's structured data guidelines fall into three main categories. Violating any can prevent you from getting rich results—or worse, lead to manual actions:

Guideline Type	Covers	Consequences
Technical Guidelines	Format, syntax, crawlability & renderability	Cannot parse, no rich results
Quality Guidelines	Content authenticity, visibility, relevance, non-abuse	Violation, possible manual action
Type-specific Guidelines	Specific requirements per type	That type gets no rich results

Technical Guidelines: Use supported formats (JSON-LD preferred), correct syntax, pages must be crawlable (not blocked by robots.txt), markup must make it into the rendered DOM. Previous articles covered these.
Quality Guidelines: Focus of this article—content must be authentic, visible, relevant, and not abused. This is where penalties most often occur.
Type-specific Guidelines: Each type (Article, Product, Review...) has its own specific requirements, covered individually in "Type Reference".

One Core Red Line#

Structured Data is "Translation," Not "Smuggling"All quality guidelines stem from one fundamental principle: The content described by structured data must be real, visible, and relevant content on the page for users. Its purpose is to translate existing visible content into a format machines can precisely understand—not to smuggle in information users can't see. Remember this and you'll avoid most violations.

Most Common Violations#

The following are real violations that can trigger issues or even manual actions:

Violation	Specific Behavior	Why It Violates
Marking Invisible Content	Marking hidden text, information users can't see on page	Violates "content must be visible"
Fake/Fabricated Information	Fabricating ratings, fake prices, non-existent event times	Misleads users and search engines
Self-marked Ratings	Business rating itself, fabricating reviews	Reviews must come from real users
Irrelevant Content	Marking types unrelated to page topic	Violates "content must be relevant"
Type Mismatch	Using Recipe markup on non-recipe pages, etc.	Type doesn't match actual content
Spam/Manipulative Markup	Keyword stuffing, abusing markup to gain display	Constitutes spam behavior
Site-wide Irrelevance	Applying FAQPage to non-Q&A pages at scale for display	Abusing specific rich result types

Deep Dive: Marking Invisible Content

This is the most common and easiest "accidental" violation. For example: a page displays only 3 FAQs, but the JSON-LD contains 10; or ratings exist only in backend data and aren't shown on the page at all, yet are marked up. Even without malicious intent, Google will treat this as a violation. Principle: Every item marked up should have corresponding visible content users can see on the page.

Deep Dive: Fake Ratings and Reviews

Review types (Review / AggregateRating) are penalty hotspots. Common violations: businesses rating their own products (self-serving reviews), fabricating review counts, aggregating ratings from unrelated sources. Google requires ratings to come from real users, be generated by independent sources, and be visible on the page.

Manual Actions#

Violating quality guidelines may trigger structured data-related manual actions. It's important to distinguish them from ordinary "errors" (emphasized in the previous Search Console Monitoring article):

	Rich Results Report "Errors"	Manual Actions
Cause	Invalid markup (missing fields, etc.)	Violates quality guidelines (fake, invisible, etc.)
Assessor	System automatic	Manual review team
Consequence	Can't get rich results	Rich results removed
Recovery	Fix fields and you're done	Remediate + submit reconsideration request
View	Enhancement reports	"Security and Manual Actions" → "Manual Actions"

Recovery process: Check violation reason and affected scope in "Manual Actions" report → Thoroughly fix violating markup → Deploy live → Submit reconsideration request explaining what you fixed → Wait for manual team re-review. Once passed, manual action is lifted and rich results may gradually return.

Gray Areas Easy to Misstep#

Some practices aren't necessarily malicious but equally inadvisable:

FAQPage Abuse: Forcing non-Q&A content into FAQ format to gain more display space. Google has significantly tightened FAQ rich result display scope—abuse is pointless.
Marking More Than Visible: Page shows 5 reviews, markup marks 50.
Not Updating Expired Information: Event ended, product out of stock, structured data still marks as available.
Aggregating Off-page Content: Aggregating site-wide or other pages' ratings onto current page.
Misleading Image/Title: Marked image, headline doesn't match page's actual content.

Rich Result Policies ChangeGoogle adjusts which types display rich results and display scope (e.g., FAQ, HowTo display underwent significant contraction). Instead of chasing "which type can grab display now," honestly markup real content—compliant markup won't be penalized by policy tightening, just whether it displays varies with strategy.

Compliance Self-check#

Before deploying any structured data, self-check with these questions:

Visible on page?Every item I marked has corresponding visible content users can see on the page.
Is it real?Ratings, prices, dates are all real, accurate, not exaggerated.
Relevant?Marked type matches page topic.
Correct type?Used correct @type, no mismatches.
For users or manipulation?Purpose is to help understand content, not purely to gain display.
Does it expire?Time-sensitive information (events, inventory) has update mechanism.

This Site's Compliance Practice#

Site DemoMagicSEO strictly follows "mark only visible": FAQPage markup on each article's Q&A matches the "Frequently Asked Questions" section word-for-word, not marking one extra item; BreadcrumbList fully corresponds to page breadcrumbs; Article title, date match body content exactly. This site uses no rating or price markup (because no corresponding real visible content exists), and never applies unrelated types just to gain display. This is the implementation of the "words match actions" principle this section repeatedly emphasizes.

Compliance Checklist#

Every marked item is visible to users on the page
All information is real, accurate, no fabrication (ratings/prices/dates)
Ratings and reviews come from real users, not self-marked
Marked type is relevant to and matches page content
Marked quantity doesn't exceed actual visible quantity on page
Time-sensitive information (events/inventory) has update mechanism
Not abusing FAQ/HowTo types to gain display
Page is crawlable, markup enters rendered DOM
Regularly check GSC "Manual Actions" report for warnings
Re-verify compliance when rich result policies change

Basics Series CompleteThis is the final article in the Structured Data section's "Basics" series. From concepts, format selection, adding methods, to validation, monitoring, and this article's compliance guidelines, you now have the complete structured data workflow. Upcoming "Type Reference" will break down fields and syntax for Article, FAQ, Product, and other specific types.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What happens if I markup content not visible on the page?

Marking content invisible to users violates Google structured data quality guidelines. Google requires structured data to describe information that is visible to users on the page. Marking hidden content or information users cannot see may prevent rich results from appearing, and in severe cases trigger manual actions that remove rich results for your entire site or affected pages. Structured data should translate visible content, not smuggle in information that doesn't exist on the page.

Can I markup inflated ratings for my own products?

Absolutely not. Marking fake or fabricated ratings and reviews is a typical violation and something Google heavily penalizes. Ratings must come from real users and be visible on the page. Self-marking (business rating itself), fabricating review counts, or aggregating unrelated ratings all constitute violations that can lead to removal of review rich results or even manual actions.

Are manual actions the same as errors in rich results reports?

No. "Errors" in rich results reports simply mean markup is invalid (like missing fields)—fix them and you're done, it's not a penalty. Manual actions result from violating structured data guidelines (like marking fake/invisible content, spam markup), issued by Google's manual review team, causing rich results to be removed and appearing in Search Console's "Manual Actions" report. Manual actions are far more serious than errors and require remediation plus a reconsideration request.

How do I recover from a manual action?

First check the "Manual Actions" report in Search Console to understand the violation reason and affected scope. Then thoroughly fix all violating structured data—remove fake, invisible, or spam markup, ensuring all markup complies with guidelines and matches visible content. After deploying fixes, submit a "reconsideration request" in that report, explaining what you corrected. Google's manual team will re-review; once passed, the manual action is lifted and rich results may gradually return.