What is the Data-Nosnippet HTML Attribute?
The data-nosnippet attribute gives website owners precise control over what parts of a page can appear in search result snippets or AI-generated summaries.
If you add the attribute to an element, search engines and tools that support it, such as Bing (which announced support in October 2025), will index the content but exclude it from being shown in search snippets or AI-generated results.
Example:
<p>This text may appear in a search snippet.</p>
<div data-nosnippet>
<p>This text is indexed but will not appear in snippets.</p>
</div>
It’s a simple Boolean attribute; no value is required.
You can think of it as a “do not quote this part” instruction rather than a “do not index this page” directive.
Why the Data-Nosnippet HTML Attribute Matters
The data-nosnippet attribute helps you guide what not to display, which can be valuable for:
Keeping control of messaging
Hide disclaimers, boilerplate, or irrelevant sections that could distract from your main value proposition.
Protecting premium or gated content
Let the search engine index teaser text but keep the full article or paywalled material out of previews.
Improving click-through rates
Prevent unhelpful or confusing text from being used as a snippet so searchers see your strongest copy.
Maintaining clarity in dynamic sites
Exclude experimental or A/B-tested elements so they don’t distort search previews.
Crucially, this attribute does not stop indexing or ranking; it simply shapes what text search engines can show publicly.
When We Recommend Using It
You might want to apply data-nosnippet when:
- A section includes legal or compliance language that adds no value in a snippet.
- You publish paid or subscriber-only content and need to hide the details while keeping discoverability and there is no other way of blocking it.
- Certain design components (ads, dynamic widgets, or test copy) shouldn’t influence snippet text.
- You want search engines and AI tools to show only polished, context-appropriate excerpts.
Used strategically, it offers a clean way to fine-tune how your pages appear in search without blocking indexing altogether. However, don’t overuse it—only use it when you truly, strongly feel it is needed.
When We Don’t Recommend Using It
In most cases, we don’t recommend using the data-nosnippet attribute. You generally want to maximize your organic visibility wherever possible, and appearing in featured snippets, AI overviews, or AI-generated summaries can increase your brand’s exposure.
A few points to keep in mind:
Key content may vanish from snippets.
If you hide your headline paragraph or main summary, the search preview might look empty or generic.
Overuse reduces snippet quality.
Too many data-nosnippet sections can leave the crawler with nothing meaningful to display.
Search engines vary in support.
Bing recognizes it as of October 2025, but not all crawlers do yet.
You may want a full-page restriction.
In that case, the nosnippet or max-snippet:0 meta directives are simpler and more consistent. If you don’t want the page indexed as a whole, the robots noindex tag would be better.
You may need to inject it with JavaScript.
Server-side placement is safer; some engines may ignore client-side additions.
How It Compares to Other Directives
| Directive | Level | Effect | When to Use |
<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet"> | Page-wide | Blocks all snippets (text and images) from appearing | When nothing on the page should appear in previews |
<meta name="robots" content="noindex"> | Page-wide | Prevents indexing entirely | For confidential or temporary pages |
<meta name="robots" content="max-snippet:#"> | Page-wide | Limits snippet length to # characters | When you want short summaries but not total suppression |
X-Robots-Tag Header | File-level (via HTTP) | Same as robots meta, works on PDFs, images, etc. | To control indexing of non-HTML files |
data-nosnippet | Element-level | Blocks snippets only for specific parts of a page | When you want granular control while keeping the page indexable |
The key difference: data-nosnippet operates at the element level, not the page level. It complements rather than replaces the meta directives above.
Final Thoughts
The data-nosnippet attribute lets you control how your content appears in search results without removing it entirely. It can be useful in specific cases, but most of the time, you’ll benefit more by allowing search engines and AI tools to reference your content. Appearing in snippets and AI overviews increases your visibility and strengthens your brand’s reach.
Have questions about optimizing your organic visibility? Reach out to us at expert@emfluence.com.
