Google recommends using schema.org to mark up your videos. schema.org is a new on-page markup that uses a vocabulary that Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! can all undertsand. Find out more about schema.org. (Google still supports your existing Facebook Share and RDFa markup, though.)
When video information is marked up in the body of a web page, Google can identify it and may use that information to improve our search results.
Google recognizes both the Facebook Share and Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa markups. Using either (or both) of these formats to mark up video directly in your HTML helps Google better understand and present your video content. Make sure the markup appears in the HTML without the execution of JavaScript or Flash.
Facebook Share
Properties
Google recognizes the following Facebook Share properties.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
image_src |
(Required.) A URL pointing to a preview thumbnail, which must be a GIF, PNG, or JPG image. The preview thumbnail must be hosted on the same domain as the video. |
video_src |
(Required.) A URL to the video to play when the user clicks the "play" button. |
medium |
Indicates the type of content being shared. Valid values are audio, image, video, news, blog and mult. |
video_width |
The video's width in pixels, including any "chrome" provided by the third-party player. |
video_height |
The video's height in pixels, including any "chrome" provided by the third-party player. |
video_type |
The video's MIME-type. Currently, the only acceptable value is application/x-shockwave-flash. |
description |
A short (up to 200 characters) description of the video. |
title |
The title of a video. Up to 60 characters. |
Example
The following sample shows a video link marked up in the Facebook Share format.
<meta name="title" content="Baroo? - cute puppies" />
<meta name="description" content="The cutest canine head tilts on the Internet!" />
<link rel="image_src" href="http://example.com/thumbnail_preview.jpg" />
<link rel="video_src" href="http://example.com/video_object.swf?id=12345"/>
<meta name="video_height" content="296" />
<meta name="video_width" content="512" />
<meta name="video_type" content="application/x-shockwave-flash" />
RDFa (Yahoo! SearchMonkey)
Properties
Google recognizes the following Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa properties.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
media:video |
(Required.) A URL to the video to play when the user clicks the "play" button. |
xmlns:media |
(Required.) Must consist of the following URL: "http://search.yahoo.com/searchmonkey/media/". |
media:thumbnail |
(Required.) A URL pointing to a preview thumbnail, which must be a GIF, PNG, or JPG image. The preview thumbnail must be hosted on the same domain as the video. |
xmlns:dc |
A valid URL to the Dublin Core namespace. The only acceptable value is "http://purl.org/dc/terms/". Required only if you are using Dublin Core metadata such as dc:description |
dc:license |
Indicates the license for this content. You may use dc:license or cc:license. |
dc:description |
A short (up to 200 characters) description of the video. |
media:title |
Specifies the title of a video. Up to 60 characters. |
media:width |
The video's width in pixels, including any "chrome" provided by the third-party player. |
media:height |
The video's height in pixels, including any "chrome" provided by the third-party player. |
media:type |
The video's MIME-type. Currently, the only acceptable value is application/x-shockwave-flash. |
media:region |
An international region where the video may be played. The default is * (play in all regions). |
media:duration |
The duration of the video, in seconds. |
Example
The following sample shows a video player marked up in the Yahoo! Searchmonkey format.
<object width="512" height="296" rel="media:video"
resource="http://example.com/video_object.swf?id=12345"
xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/searchmonkey/media/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">
<param name="movie" value="http://example.com/video_object.swf?id=12345" />
<embed src="http://example.com/video_object.swf?id=12345"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="296">
<a rel="media:thumbnail" href="http://example.com/thumbnail_preview.jpg" />
<a rel="dc:license" href="http://example.com/terms_of_service.html" />
<span property="dc:description" content="Cute Overload defines Baroo? as: Dogspeak for
'Whut the...?'Frequently accompanied by the Canine Tilt and/or wrinkled brow for enhanced effect." />
<span property="media:title" content="Baroo? - cute puppies" />
<span property="media:width" content="512" />
<span property="media:height" content="296" />
<span property="media:type" content="application/x-shockwave-flash" />
<span property="media:region" content="us" />
<span property="media:region" content="uk" />
<span property="media:duration" content="63" />
</object>