Google has introduced a new feature to enhance the visibility of images in Search, particularly benefiting site owners.
These new badges within Image Search are designed to draw more attention to images and help searchers find exactly what they’re searching for. For instance, if someone is looking to purchase a specific product, they can look for a “Product” tag in the bottom left-hand corner of an image, indicating that the image leads to a product page.
Currently, Google has badges for recipes, videos, products, and GIFs.
Site owners can ensure the appropriate badges appear on their images by using structured data markup. Google’s algorithms will automatically detect GIFs and assign the relevant badge. For other image types, there is specific markup for recipes, products, and videos.
The company notes that while using structured data markup won’t guarantee a badge will appear, it will “increase the chance.” Site owners can verify if their structured data is correctly implemented using the Structured Data Testing Tool.
These badges will be visible in Image Search on mobile devices, but there is no support for badges in desktop search.