Google Search Console adds discussion forum filter for better search visibility

Google Search Console now features a dedicated search appearance filter for discussion forum content, allowing publishers to track how user-generated discussions perform in search results. This update adds Discussion Forum rich results as a search appearance option in the Performance reports.

Discussion Forum Markup

Discussion forum markup is intended for forum-style sites where users share first-hand perspectives collectively. Adding this markup helps Google better identify online discussions and utilize them in features like Discussions and Forums. For forums following a question-and-answer format, Q&A markup should be used instead.

How to Use DiscussionForumPosting

• Threaded forums: Nest comments under the posts they relate to, using a tree structure to represent the threading. Example JSON-LD snippet shows a post with nested comments and replies.

• Linear forums: For forums with a linear structure (original post followed by replies), nest all replies as comments under the original post. Multi-page forums should include the original post with the main page URL on subsequent pages.

• Single post pages: Use mainEntity or mainEntityOfPage to identify the primary DiscussionForumPosting when the URL focuses on a single post.

• List pages: For pages listing multiple posts (e.g., profiles, topics, categories), it’s optional to include only the information present on the page with URLs linking to detailed discussion posts. Avoid marking a single post as the main entity if the page is not dedicated to that post.

• Related posts: To indicate that multiple pages are related posts, consider grouping them under a Collection or ItemList.

This structured approach to discussion forum markup improves Google's ability to recognize and display forum content effectively in search results.