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Simplifying Breadcrumbs for SEO: Adapting to Google’s Latest Changes

In January 2025 Google announced that mobile search results show only the root domain, no breadcrumb trail. Desktop results, BreadcrumbList structured data and on-page breadcrumbs stay as they are.

By Published Updated 2 min read
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Key takeaways

  • Mobile search results show the root domain instead of a clickable breadcrumb trail.
  • Desktop results keep the breadcrumbs, and Google still recognizes BreadcrumbList structured data for them.
  • Keep breadcrumbs on the page: they still improve navigation for your visitors.
  • Validate the markup with the Rich Results Test and watch the Breadcrumb report in Search Console.

The reason, according to the Google announcement: on mobile devices the breadcrumb often got truncated because of limited screen space.

What changed and what did not

  • Mobile search: users see only the root domain in the snippet, no clickable breadcrumb trail.
  • Desktop search: unchanged. Breadcrumbs stay visible with their clickable hierarchy.
  • Structured data: Google still recognizes BreadcrumbList structured data for desktop search results. The breadcrumb rich result report remains available in Google Search Console.
  • On-page: breadcrumbs still improve site navigation, regardless of how they appear on mobile SERPs.

What to keep doing

  • Keep breadcrumbs on the page. Mobile SERPs only show the domain, so give visitors a clean, tap-friendly breadcrumb trail on the page itself.
  • Keep the BreadcrumbList markup correct. Even without visible mobile breadcrumbs, the structure helps Google understand the context of your content.
  • Check the “Breadcrumb” rich result report in Search Console regularly and fix warnings and errors promptly.

Check your breadcrumb markup in 4 steps

  1. Add the markup. Include BreadcrumbList properties in JSON-LD, RDFa or Microdata. The official Google documentation has code examples. For instance: 
    {
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement": [
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 1,
      "name": "Home",
      "item": "https://example.com"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 2,
      "name": "Blog",
      "item": "https://example.com/blog"
    },
    {
      "@type": "ListItem",
      "position": 3,
      "name": "Article Title"
    }
  ]
}
  2. Validate it with Google’s Rich Results Test. Fix critical errors and warnings to stay eligible for desktop rich snippets.
  3. Inspect the URL. “URL Inspection” in Search Console confirms that Google can crawl your pages. Submit for reindexing after changes.
  4. Monitor. Wait a few days for Google to recrawl, then revisit the rich result reports or the “Breadcrumb” report.

Short labels, logical hierarchy

  • Labels: concise yet descriptive breadcrumb names.
  • Hierarchy: reflect the user’s path and the site’s natural structure. Do not replicate overly long URL paths.

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