I was shown this article by Wordtracker today, and if you aren’t using structured markup already, you really need to start. Now if you’re not the type to practice what you preach (like me, see the article Do as I say, Not as I do), then by all means, carry on.
“Despite previously going on record as saying that rich snippets and structured data would not be a ranking consideration, the search engine appears to have changed its mind. Speaking in a Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout earlier today, Mueller said that in fact, the search engine does expect rich snippets and markup to play a part in its ranking algorithms of the future.
The news is a major turnaround for Google, which has always denied that structured data is, or ever would be, an SEO factor. By suggesting it will now be introduced into organic ranking algorithms, those who have previously believed Google’s assertions that the metrics don’t hinder or help SEO performance are left with a lot of work to do.”
That is merely a snippet, not the type of rich snippet like they are talking about, but a snippet nonetheless. To read the full article, go here: http://www.wordtracker.com/blog/google-hints-that-sites-not-using-structured-markup-could-see-their-rankings-fall