Not necessarily. Google search is one application for metadata, definitely, but it is by no means the only one and nor is it the most interesting imho. The sam

Not necessarily. Google search is one application for metadata, definitely, but it is by no means the only one and nor is it the most interesting imho. The same page also points out that microformats and RDFa are supported by Google too. I wonder whether the recommended status of microdata on that page is because it was proposed and edited at the W3C by a Google employee (that's pure speculation on my part btw).