Virtual Location for event

Tuan,
Is it possible to set a location to be a virtual location (e.g. a livestream web address, or an event sign in page)? The physical location works great, but some of my events are online only.

Also, if possible, can this be carried down to the Google Structured Data fields?

Thanks

Hi Scott

I think you just need to create a location without address and it should be fine. Just enter URL of the web address into Name setting of location and it should be fine

Unfortunately, without address, we could not carry it to Google Structured Data

Tuan

Instead of the postal address can you use the named location?

Hi Scott

Your last response is not very clear to me. Could you please explain more details about it?

Tuan

Tuan,
The schema for structured markup provides two options - a Postal Address and a Named location.

Take this event: companyoffifeanddrum.org/events/calendar...usic-chat-11-05-2018

If I use the markup provided I get an error in the Google Structured Data Testing tool, as there is no location defined.

If I submit the following markup, using a location type of PLACE then the URL can be added.

Here's an example in the JSON version of the markup.


<XXXXscript type="application/ld+json"XXXXX>
{
"@context": " schema.org ",
"@type": "Event",
"name": "Fife and Drum Music Chat",
"startDate": "2018-11-05T19:00-05:00",
"location": {
"@type": "Place",
"name": " fifedrumchat.com/chat.aspx ",
"address": {
"@type": "Text"
}
},
"image": [
" companyoffifeanddrum.org/media/com_event...ages/thumbs/chat.jpg "
],
"description": "What are you up to in Fife & Drum? Tell us about it tonight on Fife & Drum Music Chat. Hosted by Charlie Terzi, Fife & Drum Music Chat is in its 20th year of online discussion. Be it Ancient, Modern or re-enacting, join the conversation on Monday Nights from 7-9 PM ET. Go to fifedrumchat.com/chat.aspx Simply follow the directions on that page. That’s all there is to it. ",
"endDate": "2018-11-05T21:00-05:00"
}
</script>

Thanks Scott for the information. Just want to be clear, where did you enter the website address of the location fifedrumchat.com/chat.aspx in your sample event ?

Tuan

In the Name attribute for Location. To define a Location you can do PostalAddress or Name.

Keep in mind there is some discussion in the SEO community that Google screwed this up. There should be dedicated fields for this type of event and their are not. While this validates out ok we should see if Google supports this use.

I will try and join a webmaster central call and see if they can provide an answer.

Tuan,
I was able to find this on the Google Webmaster forum:
productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/w...or$20online$20events