The speakable
schema.org property
identifies sections within an article or webpage that are best suited for audio playback using
text-to-speech (TTS). Adding markup allows search engines and other applications to identify content
to read aloud on Google Assistant-enabled devices using TTS. Webpages with speakable
structured data can use the Google Assistant to distribute the content through new channels and
reach a wider base of users.
The Google Assistant uses speakable
structured data to answer topical news queries
on smart speaker devices. When users ask for news about a specific topic, the
Google Assistant returns up to three articles from around the web and supports audio playback using
TTS for sections in the article with speakable
structured data. When the
Google Assistant reads aloud a speakable
section, it attributes the source and sends
the full article URL to the user's mobile device through the Google Assistant app.
For more information about what content can be eligible for speakable
structured
data for the Google Assistant, see
Eligibility.
Example
The following is an example of speakable
structured data using JSON-LD code and the
xPath content-locator
value:
Eligibility
To be eligible to appear in news results, your site must be a valid news site. Make sure you submit your news site to Google either through the Publisher Center or setting up a valid edition in Google News Producer.
Country and language availability
The speakable
property works for users in the U.S. that have Google Home devices
set to English, and publishers that publish content in English. We hope to launch in other
countries and languages as soon as sufficient number of publishers have implemented
speakable
.
Getting started
To be eligible to appear in audio playback in news results, follow the steps below:
- Make sure that your site meets the eligibility requirements by either submitting your news site to Google through the Publisher Center or setting up a valid edition in Google News Producer.
- Make sure that you follow our guidelines.
- Add
speakable
structured data to your web page. - Test and validate your structured data.
- Submit your content to begin the onboarding process. After you submit your content, the review can take up to five business days. Once complete, Google sends you a notification to let you know whether your content is eligible or not.
Guidelines
You must follow these guidelines for speakable
content to be eligible to appear in news results.
Technical guidelines
Follow these guidelines when implementing speakable
markup for Google Assistant.
- Don't add
speakable
structured data to content that may sound confusing in voice-only and voice-forward situations, like datelines (location where the story was reported), photo captions, or source attributions. - Rather than highlighting an entire article with
speakable
structured data, focus on key points. This allows listeners to get an idea of the story and not have the TTS readout cut off important details.
Content guidelines
Follow these guidelines when writing content that you intend to mark up with
speakable
structured data.
- Content indicated by
speakable
structured data should have concise headlines and/or summaries that provide users with comprehensible and useful information. - If you include the top of the story in
speakable
structured data, we suggest that you rewrite the top of the story to break up information into individual sentences so that it reads more clearly for TTS. - For optimal audio user experiences, we recommend around 20-30 seconds of content per section of
speakable
structured data, or roughly two to three sentences.
Structured data type definitions
Speakable is used by the
Article
or
Webpage
object. The
full definition of speakable
is available at
schema.org/speakable. You must include
the required properties for your content to be eligible for this feature.
The speakable
property can be repeated an arbitrary number of times, with two kinds
of possible content-locator
values: CSS selectors and xPaths. Use one of the
following properties:
Required properties | |
---|---|
cssSelector |
Addresses content in the annotated pages (such as class attribute). Use either
["headline", "summary"] |
xPath
|
Addresses content using xPaths (assuming an XML view of the content). Use either
/html/head/title |
Troubleshooting
Can't trigger content
error Problem: You can't trigger your content through the Google Assistant using TTS audio.
done Fix the issue
- Try the following voice commands:
- "What's the latest news about $topic?"
- "What's the latest on $topic?"
- "Play news about $topic."
- If you're still having trouble, it may be because ranking is determined algorithmically. The Google Assistant provides up to three articles from different news publications through TTS audio playback. For more information about how Google ranks articles, see How Search works.
Other issues
error Problem: You're experiencing other issues not covered by the documentation.
done Fix the issue
- Visit the Google Webmaster Central Help Forum.
- Contact your Google representative or audio news support.
More audio solutions
In addition to speakable
structured data, you can use other Google Assistant
audio solutions for your news content, such as advanced integration of Google Assistant for
your own custom applications. For example, allowing users to interact with the app through
Google Assistant. For more information, see the Actions on Google developer
guide.