Book

Book actions make Google Search an entry point for discovering books and authors, enabling Search users to quickly buy the books that they find directly from Search results. As a provider of e-books, you can provide a feed of data to Google using the structured data schema below.

To ensure robust coverage and better serve our users, this feature is currently limited to book providers that have broad book availability. If you would like to participate, register your interest in our form. Indicating interest in this feature does not guarantee participation.

Examples

The user’s query can indicate an intent to find a book, such as a book title, like The Catcher in the Rye, or the books of J.D. Salinger. For relevant queries, we might show a Knowledge Graph card for the book. Read more about managing your Knowledge Graph data. Read actions, which are incorporated into the cards, display options for acquiring the book. Through links you provide, read actions send users directly from the Knowledge Graph card to a book page on your site or app.

<script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context":"http://schema.org", "@type":"Book", "name" : "The Catcher in the Rye", "author": { "@type":"Person", "name":"J.D. Salinger" }, "url" : "http://www.barnesandnoble.com/store/info/offer/JDSalinger", "workExample" : [{ "@type": "Book", "isbn": "031676948", "bookEdition": "2nd Edition", "bookFormat": "http://schema.org/Hardcover", "potentialAction":{ "@type":"ReadAction", "target": { "@type":"EntryPoint", "urlTemplate":"http://www.barnesandnoble.com/store/info/offer/0316769487?purchase=true", "actionPlatform":[ "http://schema.org/DesktopWebPlatform", "http://schema.org/IOSPlatform", "http://schema.org/AndroidPlatform" ] }, "expectsAcceptanceOf":{ "@type":"Offer", "Price":6.99, "priceCurrency":"USD", "eligibleRegion" : { "@type":"Country", "name":"US" }, "availability": "http://schema.org/InStock" } } },{ "@type": "Book", "isbn": "031676947", "bookEdition": "1st Edition", "bookFormat": "http://schema.org/EBook", "potentialAction":{ "@type":"ReadAction", "target": { "@type":"EntryPoint", "urlTemplate":"http://www.barnesandnoble.com/store/info/offer/031676947?purchase=true", "actionPlatform":[ "http://schema.org/DesktopWebPlatform", "http://schema.org/IOSPlatform", "http://schema.org/AndroidPlatform" ] }, "expectsAcceptanceOf":{ "@type":"Offer", "Price":1.99, "priceCurrency":"USD", "eligibleRegion" : { "@type":"Country", "name":"UK" }, "availability": "http://schema.org/InStock" } } }] } </script>

Guidelines

In addition to the general structured data guidelines, follow these guidelines that are specific to books and read actions:

• If you have duplicate pages for the same content, the link should be the canonical URL that contains the book title and other book information.
• Upon clicking a read action link, your user should be sent to a page that directly supports the acquisition of the book.
• Read action links must point to a page where users can acquire the content. Read action links must not point to pages that to click more pages to acquire the content or view more details, such as a search results page or product summary page.

Structured data type definitions

You must include the required properties for your content to be eligible for display as a rich result. You can also include the recommended properties to add more information about your content, which could provide a better user experience.

Book

While the full definition of Book is available at schema.org/Book, you only need to define the properties listed below. You must define the following required properties for every book in your site.

Required properties
author	Person The author(s) of the book. For each author you list, you must provide a specific Person entity. See Person.
name	Text The title of the book. If you provide multiple editions, use the title of the book edition.
url	URL URL of the page on your site about the book. The page may list all available editions.
workExample	Book The editions of this book. See sub-properties for workExample.

Recommended properties
@id	URL Globally unique ID of the work in the a URL format. The ID should be stable and not change over time. The URL is treated as an opaque string and does not have to resolve to an actual web page.
sameAs	URL A reference page that unambiguously indicates the book's identity; for example, the URL of the book's Wikipedia page, Freebase page, or official website.

Country

This subset of Offer defines the two-letter country code where the Offer is eligible.

Required properties
name	Text The name of the country, in compliance with the alpha-2 3166 standard.

EntryPoint

The EntryPoint serves as the mechanism for you to provide the deep links to your books. You can specify the deep links by the type of platform they intend to serve.

Required properties
actionPlatform	Text The platform(s) on which the link works. One or more of the following: http://schema.org/DesktopWebPlatform: Works on desktop web browsers. http://schema.org/MobileWebPlatform: Works on mobile web browsers. http://schema.org/AndroidPlatform: Works on Android native app. http://schema.org/IOSPlatform: Works on iOS native app. This property can be omitted for deep links with a custom Android scheme.
urlTemplate	URL Link(s) to content.

Offer

Offer defines the terms and conditions for purchase.

Required properties
price	Number The offer price of a product, currency will be appointed in priceCurrency property.
priceCurrency	Text The currency (in 3-letter ISO 4217 format).

Recommended properties
@id	URL Globally unique ID of the offer.
availability	ItemAvailability The availability of this item; for example, InStock, OutOfStock, or PreOrder.
eligibleRegion	Country Countries in which the offer is valid.
ineligibleRegion	Country Countries which the offer is not valid (may override eligible regions if one country appears in both eligible region set and ineligible region set).

Person

Google uses the Person type for the author.

Required properties
name	Text The name of the person.

Recommended properties
sameAs	URL A reference page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity; for example, the URL of the item's Wikipedia page, Freebase page, or official website.

ReadAction

ReadAction properties determine both the platform for the content as well as the conditions in which the action can occur, such as purchase of the content before reading can begin.

Required properties
expectsAcceptanceOf	Offer A container for the action conditions.
target	EntryPoint A container for the action target.

workExample

Either a specific edition of the written work, or the volume of the work.

Required properties
bookFormat	BookFormatType The format of the book using one or more of the following values: EBook Hardcover Paperback AudioBook
isbn	Text The ISBN of the tome. The ISBN can be either 10 or 13 digits, but we recommend 13 digits if available. Use the ISBN of the print book instead if there is no ISBN for the edition being described; for example, for the Kindle edition.
potentialAction	ReadAction Read action(s) for the book.

Recommended properties
@id	URL Globally unique ID of the volume in the form of a URL. The ID should be stable and not change over time. It should also be distinct from the ID used for the book. The URL is treated as an opaque string and does not have to be a working link.
author	Person The author(s) of the tome. Only use this property if the author(s) of the tome differ from the related book. Provide one Person entity per author.
bookEdition	Text The edition of the book.
datePublished	Date Date of first publication of this tome.
name	Text The title of the tome. Only use this property for the title of the tome if it differs from the book.
sameAs	URL A reference page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity; for example, the URL of the item's Wikipedia page, Freebase page, or official website.
url	URL URL specific to this edition if one exists.