• by Laurie Sullivan , April 15, 2020

The White House announced Wednesday that it is working with Federal agencies and Schema.org to improve the visibility of COVID-19-related information on search engines such as Google Search and Microsoft Bing.

A collaborative community, Schema.org -- founded by technology companies including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex -- creates standard tags that organizations can add to any website’s code, making the content on the web pages easier for web crawlers to find and serve up in query results.

Technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex create standard tags that organizations can add to any website’s code, making the content on the web pages easier for web crawlers to find and serve up in query results.

In March, Google and Microsoft, for example, began working with SEO professionals and website developers to use the SpecialAnnouncement schema markups, or special tags, to serve up in search results. 

The information ranges from disease statistics, testing facilities and testing guidelines, to quarantine rules, school closures and travel restrictions including public transit closures, and special announcements from businesses related to hours or changes in service.

On the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy blog, Michael Kratsios, White House chief technology officer, calls on CIOs to update their websites with these new Schema tags that aim to help Americans find the latest official public health announcements and information through their search engine queries.

Local pharmacies, clinics, and businesses hosting COVID-19 testing facilities also can use the new tags to help Americans search for location sites and hours of operation right in their communities. Local and state organizations can tag their webpages to provide new guidelines and notices, such as closures, revised hours, or changes in restrictions, he writes.