Microsoft has introduced support for the data-nosnippet HTML attribute in Bing Search, enabling webmasters, developers, and publishers to control which parts of their content appear in Bing Search snippets and AI-generated answers while keeping the rest of the page discoverable and indexed. This feature helps protect sensitive, paywalled, or non-essential content from being displayed in previews, maintaining content visibility and ranking potential without compromising control.
Purpose and Benefits of data-nosnippet
The data-nosnippet attribute allows creators to:
- Protect premium or paywalled content by hiding subscriber-only text, tables, and media from previews.
- Manage brand reputation by excluding volatile comments or reviews from snippets.
- Remove legal boilerplate such as disclaimers or cookie notices to keep snippets focused on valuable content.
- Suppress outdated or irrelevant sections like legacy notices or expired promotions.
- Exclude sponsored or promotional content including ads and affiliate blurbs from neutral previews.
- Stabilize A/B tests and experiments by hiding variant copy to prevent snippet changes during testing.
- Balance visibility and discretion by surfacing high-value content while keeping sensitive parts behind clicks.
How data-nosnippet Works
When Bing crawls a webpage, content marked with data-nosnippet remains fully indexed and available for ranking but is excluded from search result snippets and AI-generated summaries. This selective exclusion allows creators to control snippet content without affecting overall page discoverability.
Implementation Example
The attribute can be added to any HTML element:
<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>This section may appear in Bing Search and Copilot answers.</p>
<div data-nosnippet>
<h3>Subscriber Content</h3>
<p>This section does not appear in Bing Search and Copilot answers.</p>
</div>
After adding the attribute, creators can verify changes using Bing Webmaster Tools and URL inspection. Updates may take from seconds up to a week to reflect in search results depending on Bing’s crawl schedule.
Comparison with Other Bing Robots Directives
The data-nosnippet attribute complements existing Bing directives such as:
noindex: Prevents a page from being indexed.nosnippet: Blocks all text and preview thumbnails from snippets.max-snippet,max-image-preview,max-video-preview: Limit preview content size or duration.
Unlike nosnippet, which blocks all snippet content, data-nosnippet allows selective exclusion of specific sections while keeping the rest visible.
Conclusion
The introduction of the data-nosnippet HTML attribute enhances creators’ control over how their content is presented in Bing Search and AI-powered experiences. It balances content protection and visibility, supporting Bing’s goal to keep the web open and creator-driven while enabling precise management of snippet content.
