VideoObject is the Schema.org type for a video. Google uses VideoObject markup, along with its own analysis, to show videos in search results, the Videos tab and other surfaces. Extra markup can enable key moments, which link to specific timestamps, and a LIVE badge for livestreams. Google requires name, thumbnailUrl and uploadDate.
Required and recommended properties
- Required: name, thumbnailUrl, uploadDate
- Recommended: description, duration, contentUrl or embedUrl, expires
- For key moments: hasPart with Clip items, or a SeekToAction telling Google how to build timestamp URLs
- For livestreams: publication with a BroadcastEvent
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "Setting up alert rules in Ploverdale",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://www.ploverdale.example/video/alerts-thumb.jpg",
"uploadDate": "2026-06-02T10:00:00Z",
"duration": "PT6M30S",
"contentUrl": "https://cdn.ploverdale.example/video/alerts.mp4"
}Watch pages
Google has said it shows video features mainly for pages where the video is the main content, its documentation calls these watch pages. A demo video embedded halfway down a long feature page may be indexed but is less likely to get a video result. A dedicated page for each important video, with a transcript, is the clearest setup.
Hosting choices
Videos hosted on YouTube usually rank as the YouTube page. Self-hosted or third-party player videos on your own pages need crawlable thumbnails and a video file or embed URL Google can fetch. Blocking the video file in robots.txt prevents Google from processing it.
Example
A product tutorial library
Ploverdale, a monitoring SaaS, publishes each tutorial on its own page with the player at the top, a transcript below and VideoObject markup including Clip items for each chapter. The Video indexing report in Search Console shows which pages Google recognized as watch pages.
Common mistakes
Thumbnails Google cannot fetch
A thumbnail behind a login, blocked by robots.txt or served by a short-lived signed URL prevents video features.
Marking up decorative background videos
Autoplaying hero loops are not content videos and should not be marked up as such.
Questions
It can describe the embed, but Google often prefers the YouTube page itself. Markup is most useful for videos you host and publish on watch pages.
