Google: Showing Structured Data Markup Just To GoogleBot Is Cloaking

Dec 26, 2017 - 8:33 am 5 by

Google Cloaking

Did you know that if you decide to just show your structured data markup to GoogleBot, Google's spiders/crawlers, and hide it from normal users in the source code, that would be considered cloaking. Cloaking is against Google's webmaster guidelines and can result in a manual action.

Google said you need to show both humans and GoogleBot the same HTML and not just show GoogleBot the HTML.

The question came up on Twitter and Google's John Mueller said that it is cloaking to do that. The reason was somewhat legit, the webmaster wanted to hide their structured markup from their competitors.

But no, you cannot do that without potentially getting into hot water with Google.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google

Google AI Overviews Bug Removes Links & Citations

Feb 4, 2026 - 4:39 pm
Google News

Google Ad Revenue Up 14% - Google's Biggest Revenue & Ad Revenue Yet

Feb 4, 2026 - 4:10 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: February 4, 2026

Feb 4, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Big Time Starting On February 2nd

Feb 4, 2026 - 7:55 am
Bing Search

Microsoft Publisher Content Marketplace - Pay For AI To License Content

Feb 4, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Hit Self-Promotional Listicles In Recent Unconfirmed Updates?

Feb 4, 2026 - 7:41 am
 
Previous Story: When Google Maps Shows Embarrassing Business Photos Over Your Photos