Google today expanded its beta structured data carousels feature in South Africa to support three additional query categories. The update adds food delivery, car hire, and bus booking to the list of supported query types for the region's distinctive search features.

The expansion builds on functionality that launched in South Africa in August 2025, when Google first introduced structured data carousels as a beta feature following months of preparations. According to the latest documentation update, South African businesses implementing ItemList structured data combined with supported content types can now appear in carousel rich results for these newly supported queries.

The carousel feature displays horizontal scrolling lists of businesses in search results, showing information including prices, ratings, and images directly from website structured data. Each tile in the carousel presents data from the implementing site without requiring navigation to multiple separate pages.

Eligibility requirements remain consistent with the original implementation. Businesses must add ItemList structured data to summary pages that list at least three entities, with each entity linking to separate detail pages on the same domain. The system supports LocalBusiness and its subtypes including Restaurant, Hotel, and VacationRental, along with Product and Event types.

The South African features distinguish this market from other regions where carousels operate. Google introduced a "South African" badge on September 16, 2024, visible on applicable web results and advertisements from eligible platforms. Refinement chips enable users to filter search results specifically for South African businesses.

These visual indicators appear without affecting ranking positions. The badge displays for travel, shopping, and now food delivery, car hire, and bus booking queries conducted within South Africa. Refinement chips help users narrow their view to eligible platforms, requiring no additional markup from businesses beyond standard structured data implementation.

Technical specifications for the newly supported query types follow existing carousel guidelines. LocalBusiness structured data serves as the foundation, with recommended properties varying by business type. Restaurants implementing structured data can include servesCuisine properties to specify food categories. Car rental businesses and bus operators benefit from displaying priceRange and amenityFeature properties where applicable.

The timing of this expansion reflects Google's graduated rollout strategy for regional search features. The European Economic Area received carousel support in February 2024, when Google introduced similar rich results for travel, local, and shopping queries. Turkey followed with more limited carousel availability covering hotels, vacation rentals, and local businesses.

Each market's implementation demonstrates Google's approach to regional customization. Features launching in the EEA include aggregator units and airline-specific displays for flight queries that remain unavailable in South Africa. Conversely, the South African badge and refinement chip combination represents unique functionality not deployed in European markets.

The beta designation indicates ongoing development with potential changes to requirements or guidelines as the feature matures. Google's documentation emphasizes this status, noting that specifications may shift based on usage patterns and feedback from implementing businesses.

Structured data requirements follow established patterns from other rich result features. Images must use crawlable URLs in formats supported by Google Images, with multiple high-resolution options recommended across 16:9, 4:3, and 1:1 aspect ratios. Minimum resolution specifications call for 50,000 pixels when multiplying width and height dimensions.

Business names appear as titles within carousel tiles, with HTML formatting ignored during display. URLs must point to canonical detail pages rather than anchor links within summary pages. These technical constraints ensure consistent presentation across different device types and screen sizes.

The carousel system integrates with existing Google Search infrastructure including Rich Results Test validation and Search Console monitoring. Businesses implementing structured data can validate markup through testing tools before deployment, then track performance through Search Console reports after pages enter the index.

Geographic restrictions limit carousel availability to specific markets based on regulatory considerations and platform priorities. The feature operates exclusively in EEA countries, Turkey, and South Africa, with no announced plans for expansion to other regions. Business location and target audience determine eligibility, requiring either establishment in these markets or service delivery to users within them.

South African businesses seeking participation submit interest through a dedicated form rather than receiving automatic enrollment. This application process differs from standard organic search inclusion, adding administrative requirements beyond technical implementation.

The expansion arrives during a period of significant changes to Google's structured data landscape. Google removed practice problem structured data support in January 2026, part of ongoing simplification efforts affecting multiple markup types. The company deprecated seven structured data types in June 2025, including Book Actions and Vehicle Listing formats.

Simultaneously, Google continues developing new structured data capabilities. Loyalty program markup support launched in June 2025, enabling businesses to display member benefits in search results. These parallel tracks demonstrate selective investment in features demonstrating strong user engagement while retiring underutilized implementations.

Marketing professionals managing South African business websites should evaluate carousel implementation as part of broader search visibility strategies. The feature provides enhanced presentation beyond standard blue links, potentially increasing click-through rates for qualifying businesses. However, implementation requires technical resources for structured data deployment and ongoing maintenance.

Competitive dynamics within supported categories may shift as carousel adoption increases. Businesses appearing in carousel results gain prominent positioning with rich visual presentation, while competitors lacking structured data receive standard listing treatment. This differential visibility creates incentive structures favoring early adoption among eligible businesses.

The food delivery category addition reflects platform priorities around commercial queries. E-commerce and transaction-focused content types receive continued structured data investment, contrasting with educational and informational markup types facing deprecation. This pattern suggests Google's strategic focus on features generating measurable user engagement through transaction completion.

Implementation complexity varies by business structure and technical capabilities. Single-location businesses with straightforward offerings can implement required markup through plugins or content management system extensions. Multi-location operations or businesses with complex service areas require more sophisticated structured data management, potentially necessitating developer involvement.

The documentation update specifies that generic types remain acceptable for basic implementation, though specific types enable access to additional properties. LocalBusiness serves as a catch-all category, while Hotel, VacationRental, and Restaurant subtypes unlock specialized attributes like amenityFeature for lodging businesses or servesCuisine for food service establishments.

Validation procedures through Rich Results Test provide immediate feedback on markup correctness before deployment. The tool executes JavaScript and displays rendered output, identifying structured data implementation issues including missing required properties or incorrect value formats. This testing capability reduces deployment risks associated with invalid markup that fails to trigger rich result display.

Search Console reports enable ongoing monitoring after initial implementation. The platform tracks rich result appearances and identifies validation issues affecting live pages. Coverage reports show which URLs successfully implemented supported structured data types, while error messages highlight specific technical problems requiring resolution.

The beta feature's gradual expansion demonstrates measured deployment priorities balancing feature development against platform complexity. Rather than launching globally across all supported content types simultaneously, Google segments rollout by geography and query category, enabling iterative refinement based on observed performance in limited markets.

This approach parallels carousel documentation updates from April 2024, when Google clarified guidelines for the beta feature's initial implementations. That update emphasized that carousels primarily serve travel, local, and shopping queries, with shopping availability limited to specific European countries through Comparison Shopping Services program participation.

The current expansion maintains restrictions on carousel availability even within South Africa. Not all query patterns trigger carousel display, with the feature appearing specifically for relevant search terms indicating user intent matching supported categories. Generic queries without clear category indicators receive standard results presentation rather than carousel treatment.

User experience considerations drive feature design decisions around visual presentation and interactive elements. Carousels enable horizontal scrolling through multiple business options without page navigation, reducing friction in comparison shopping scenarios. This interaction model suits specific query types where users evaluate multiple similar options before selection.

The addition of bus booking support specifically addresses transportation service discovery, a category with established structured data foundations through existing Event and LocalBusiness types. Bus operators implementing markup can display route information, pricing, and scheduling details within carousel presentations, providing comparison data directly in search results.

Car hire businesses gain similar advantages through carousel inclusion. Rental agencies can showcase vehicle categories, pricing structures, and location information through structured data attributes, enabling users to evaluate options before visiting individual business websites. This pre-qualification function potentially increases conversion rates by presenting key decision factors earlier in the customer journey.

Food delivery represents the category with broadest potential implementation base among the three newly supported query types. Restaurants, food aggregators, and delivery platforms can participate through appropriate structured data deployment. The servesCuisine property enables specific categorization supporting user refinement by food type, while priceRange indicators help manage expectation alignment before click-through.

Implementation guidance emphasizes completeness over minimal compliance. While required properties establish basic eligibility, recommended properties enhance presentation quality and provide additional information supporting user decision-making. Aggregate ratings, price ranges, and visual elements all contribute to more compelling carousel tiles that potentially generate higher engagement.

The relationship between carousel support and existing South African badge functionality creates layered visibility opportunities. Businesses appearing in carousels also receive badge treatment when applicable, combining enhanced presentation through rich results with explicit South African identification supporting local business discovery.

This dual signaling serves both user needs and platform objectives. Users searching for local options receive clear indicators about business location and characteristics, while Google maintains differentiated presentation for regional markets with specific feature implementations. The approach balances standardization across core search functionality against regional customization serving local market requirements.

Documentation updates tracking carousel changes provide ongoing reference material for implementing businesses. The structured data carousels beta documentation receives regular revisions as feature specifications evolve, with the latest update adding the three new query type categories alongside existing supported searches.

Marketing professionals should monitor these documentation pages for additional updates as the beta feature progresses toward general availability. Current restrictions and guidelines may shift based on usage data and platform priorities, requiring periodic review of implementation strategies against updated specifications.

The South African market presents specific characteristics influencing carousel feature design. As a beta implementation distinct from broader global deployments, the region serves as a testing ground for refined approaches to rich results presentation. Lessons from South African rollout may inform future implementations in additional markets or influence broader search feature development.

Technical implementation follows standard structured data patterns established across Google's rich results ecosystem. JSON-LD format remains the preferred implementation method, though microdata and RDFa formats receive support for businesses with existing markup investments. Placement within page HTML can occur in head or body sections, providing flexibility around content management system constraints.

The carousel update demonstrates continued structured data investment despite concurrent deprecation of underutilized features. While Google removes support for markup types with minimal user engagement, the platform simultaneously expands capabilities for features showing strong adoption and positive user response metrics. This selective approach prioritizes development resources toward highest-impact implementations.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Google Search Central updated documentation affecting businesses in South Africa implementing structured data for food delivery, car hire, and bus booking services.

What: Expansion of beta structured data carousels feature to support three additional query categories beyond existing travel, shopping, and local business coverage, enabling horizontal scrolling rich results with pricing, ratings, and images.

When: Google announced the update on January 21, 2026, through documentation changes and blog post updates, building on carousel functionality introduced to South Africa in August 2025.

Where: The expansion applies exclusively to South Africa within Google Search results on desktop and mobile devices, maintaining geographic restrictions limiting carousel availability to EEA countries, Turkey, and South Africa.

Why: The update enables businesses in newly supported categories to gain enhanced search visibility through rich results presentation while providing users with improved comparison shopping capabilities for services requiring evaluation of multiple providers before selection.

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