what is actual difference between Gmail Inbox Action- View Action and Track Action?

Question

I want to use track action button functionality of Gmail Inbox Actions. I tried both view action and track action functionality. However I was totally confused which method I should use to achieve my requirement. I tried to put following markup in my email. For track action, I write following markup.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "http://schema.org",
  "@type": "ParcelDelivery",
  "trackingUrl": "http://www.my-domain.com/trackOrder/orderId=101010"
}
</script>

And for view action, I write following markup.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "http://schema.org",
  "@type": "EmailMessage",
  "action": {
    "@type": "ViewAction",
    "url": "http://www.my-domain.com/trackOrder/orderId=101010",
    "name": "Track your order"
  }
}

Using any of this markup, I could achieve my requirements. But I am not sure which wat is better. Also I have not clear idea, how to use properties like "deliveryAddress", "expectedArrivalUntil","carrier","itemShipped","partOfOrder" in markup.

I need suggestion about this.

Answer 1

Both the ViewAction and the TrackAction are currently represented in Gmail with a similar button, so users won't see any difference at this time, but you should always adopt the highest-fidelity schema for your use case, so that future changes in the UI will provide users with a better experience.

In the case of parcel deliveries, you should not only set the "trackingUrl" property, but also include the other properties you mentioned ("deliveryAddress", "expectedArrivalUntil", "carrier", "itemShipped", "partOfOrder", ...) to describe the transaction.

You can check an example of such markup at https://developers.google.com/gmail/actions/reference/parcel-delivery

Answer 2

There are a number of different types of categories(like Order,Parcel,Fligh Reservation) apart from View Actions and Track actions which actually provides metadata to google and helps them to refine their search thereby providing more optimal and results to the users.

One may find various kinds of markup options here: https://developers.google.com/gmail/actions/reference/