Google Image Search Adds New Image License Metadata

Feb 24, 2020 - 8:12 am 0 by
Filed Under Google

Licence Plates Google

Google announced that you can now use markup and metadata to tell Google about the image licensing rights and details. When you add this metadata and when Google decides to show the results in image search, Google may show a new Licensable badge for the image. I also covered this last week at Search Engine Land.

Here is a screen shot of what this may look like in Google Image Search:

click for full size

Note: This is a BETA release, so this may change, never launch fully or look completely different when it goes live.

There are two ways to add this metadata to your images:

(1) 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. You can learn more about the structured data method there.

(2) 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. You can learn more about the IPTC photo metadata method there.

The goal with this is to help those who license images make it clear on how others can use the image:

And this does not help you rank better:

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 14, 2025

Jul 14, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google June 2025 Core Update Volatility Remains Heated Through Weekend

Jul 14, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Updates Merchant Return Policies & Loyalty Programs

Jul 14, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Local Service Ads Reviews Now Managed By Business Profiles

Jul 14, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google AI Mode With Link Cards Only - A Bug?

Jul 14, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google

Google AI Overviews Now With Many Videos

Jul 14, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google In Europe Now Shows Other Local Search Providers