John Mueller of Google said on Twitter yesterday that although structured data, by itself, does not give you a ranking boost, it can help Google understand your content and thus help you rank in Google. But like with the HTTPS ranking boost, having structured data is not the same and does not give you a ranking boost just because you have structured data on the page.
John said "there's no generic ranking boost for SD [structured data] usage." "However, SD structured data] can make it easier to understand what the page is about, which can make it easier to show where it's relevant (improves targeting, maybe ranking for the right terms)," he added.
He said this messaging about how Google uses structured data is not new. In 2015 Google did say they may use structured data for ranking purposes. But just last year, Google said they don't want to depend on structured data for understanding the web, although they also said structured data is super important and here to stay.
Here is more context around why this is coming up now:
There's no generic ranking boost for SD usage. That's the same as far as I remember. However, SD can make it easier to understand what the page is about, which can make it easier to show where it's relevant (improves targeting, maybe ranking for the right terms). (not new, imo)
— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) April 2, 2018
In short, structured data by itself is not a direct ranking factor. But it does help Google understand your content, helps with adding rich snippets/cards to your search results listings, helps with click through rates and helps Google understand your content, which gives it a better shot at ranking.
Is this new? Well, it depends on how you understood John's previous communication around structured data and rankings.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
