Google Updates Structured Data Requirements For Return Policies via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google requires ecommerce stores to specify in their structured data which country their return policies apply to. The post Google Updates Structured Data Requirements For Return Policies appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Mar 15, 2025 - 21:02

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Google Updates Structured Data Requirements For Return Policies via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google requires ecommerce stores to specify in their structured data which country their return policies apply to.

Google now requires country information for return policies in structured data. Merchants should update their product structured data to include this field.

Google Updates Structured Data Requirements For Return Policies

Google has updated its guidelines for merchant listings.

Now, merchants need to specify which country their return policies apply to when using structured data.

According to the updated document, returnPolicyCountry is now a required field in the MerchantReturnPolicy schema.

Ecommerce sites should ensure their return policy markup is implemented correctly to maintain visibility.

What Has Changed

Previously, while the MerchantReturnPolicy type included properties like returnPolicyCategory, merchantReturnDays, and returnFees, Google has now explicitly highlighted returnPolicyCountry as a required field in its examples.

In the updated documentation, the example shows how to properly format return policy information for products:

"hasMerchantReturnPolicy": { "@type": "MerchantReturnPolicy", "applicableCountry": "CH", "returnPolicyCountry": "CH", "returnPolicyCategory": "https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow", "merchantReturnDays": 60, "returnMethod": "https://schema.org/ReturnByMail", "returnFees": "https://schema.org/FreeReturn" }

Implementation Recommendations

Merchants using structured data for product pages should review their existing markup to ensure it includes the returnPolicyCountry field within any MerchantReturnPolicy implementation.

This field should use the two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code formatting to specify where the return policy applies.

The documentation also outlines additional recommended properties for comprehensive return policy information, including:

merchantReturnDays: The number of days a product can be returned returnFees: Whether returns are free or require payment returnMethod: How products can be returned (mail, in-store, etc.) returnShippingFeesAmount: The cost of shipping for returns

Merchants can validate their structured data implementation using Google’s Rich Results Test tool and monitor performance through Search Console reporting.

For the complete details, see the Google Search Central documentation.

Featured Image: Poetra.RH/Shutterstock

SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal

Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, ...