FAQ about hCard

The questions that decide whether hCard is worth implementing, answered by Yandex directly.

How and when does the data appear?

It is extracted while the robot indexes the site, so timing depends on crawl frequency — Yandex suggests adding the marked-up pages to the sitemap to signal their importance. Then a moderator reviews the data before it enters Yandex Business, taking up to two weeks.

What are the alternatives?

The public Yandex Business form, or the Site region page in the console. Yandex says the console route is better for a site owner, because you can track the request and see error details — neither of which the markup route offers.

What is the actual difference?

With hCard you publish your contact information to the whole world, not only to Yandex; address markup is good site-building practice in itself and needs no console registration. Through the console, data reaches Yandex Business faster and the moderation process is visible. Both feed one database — data added by markup can be viewed and edited in the console.

When is markup the better choice?

Yandex names two cases: a new site, where the markup gets it into both the index and Yandex Business with no further action; and an extensive branch network whose addresses change relatively often, where updating the site updates the listing automatically. That second case is the strongest argument for markup over forms — it removes an entire recurring maintenance task.

Personal data

Yandex currently processes organisation cards only. Personal contact details marked up with hCard are not processed, which also answers the question people are too polite to ask about marking up staff information.

The pragmatic reading

Use the console for a single location that rarely moves; use markup for a network that changes. Either way, expect up to two weeks of moderation and check the result in the console, since both routes land in the same place.