Dataset (Dataset, DataCatalog, DataDownload) structured data

Datasets are easier to find in the Dataset Search
tool when you provide supporting information such as their name, description, creator and distribution formats
as structured data. Google’s approach to dataset discovery
makes use of schema.org and other metadata standards that can be added to pages that describe datasets. The purpose of this markup is to
improve discovery of datasets from fields such as life sciences, social sciences, machine
learning, civic and government data, and more.

Here are some examples of what can qualify as a dataset:

• A table or a CSV file with some data
• An organized collection of tables
• A file in a proprietary format that contains data
• A collection of files that together constitute some meaningful dataset
• A structured object with data in some other format that you might want to load into a
  special tool for processing
• Images capturing data
• Files relating to machine learning, such as trained parameters or neural network structure definitions

How to add structured data

Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page
content. If you’re new to structured data, you can learn more about
how structured data works.

Here’s an overview of how to build, test, and release structured data.

1. Add the required properties. Based on the
   format you’re using, learn where to insert structured data on the page.
2. Follow the guidelines.
3. Validate your code using the
   Rich Results Test
   and fix any critical errors. Consider also fixing any non-critical issues that may be flagged
   in the tool, as they can help improve the quality of your structured data (however, this isn’t necessary to be eligible for rich results).
4. Deploy a few pages that include your structured data and use the URL Inspection tool to test how Google sees the page. Be sure that your page is
   accessible to Google and not blocked by a robots.txt file, the noindex tag, or
   login requirements. If the page looks okay, you can
   ask Google to recrawl your URLs.
5. To keep Google informed of future changes, we recommend that you
   submit a sitemap. You can automate this with the
   Search Console Sitemap API.

Deleting a dataset from Dataset Search results

If you don’t want a dataset to show up in Dataset Search results, use the robots meta tag to control how your dataset is indexed. Keep in mind that it might take some time (days or weeks, depending on the crawl schedule) for the changes to be reflected on Dataset Search.

Our approach to dataset discovery

We can understand structured data in web pages about datasets, using either schema.org Dataset markup, or equivalent
structures represented in W3C‘s Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) format. We also are exploring
experimental support for structured data based on W3C CSVW, and expect to evolve and adapt our approach as best practices for dataset description emerge. For more information about our
approach to dataset discovery, see
Making it easier to discover datasets.

Examples

Here’s an example for datasets using JSON-LD and schema.org syntax (preferred) in the
Rich Results Test. The same schema.org vocabulary can also be used in RDFa 1.1 or Microdata syntaxes.
You can also use the W3C DCAT vocabulary to describe the metadata. The following example is based on a
real-world
dataset description.