Bug 257274 – OG Metadata Titles not sharing properly in iMessages and Apple Mail

• Status: NEW
• Component: WebKit Misc.

[David Cloyd]

I am experiencing a very weird problem with OG metadata on email and text messaging clients. This is new problem that only began with the last several months, though for various reasons that should be obvious, it is almost impossible to pinpoint a date when it started.

I use the Yoast SEO plugin to run metadata (including open graph) on my sites, and have for years. Recently, I learned that when sharing links in Messages and Apple Mail the software is creating link previews using Open Graph metadata. However, despite my every effort, and confirming that I've correctly coded everything by numerous support teams, the titles are being rewritten on an inconsistent basis. For example:

https://ecrmusicgroup.com
Real Title: "ECR Music Group | NYC"
Title that appears in texts and emails: "NYC"

https://ecrmusicgroup.com/artists/blake-morgan
Real Title: "Blake Morgan - ECR Music Group | NYC"
Title that appears in texts and emails: "Blake Morgan"

I read that Apple applications are only reading og:title and og:image to generate those previews, but I have found that not to be true at all. I've shared numerous links from other sites, including Buzzfeed, and when comparing the metadata in the source code to what actually appears, that isn't always happening.

I have also found that Androids also rename page titles, though it's often completely different text.

https://ecrmusicgroup.com
Real Title: "ECR Music Group | NYC"
Title that appears in texts and emails: "ECLECTRO [DELUXE EDITION]"
(This is a title for a portfolio post that appears on the home page under "Featured Releases.")

I'm working with Yoast to find a solution, but this also happens with the All-in-One SEO plugin.

I've added two screenshots to Shipboard - one of the site in a browser with the correct title, and one of the text with the incorrect title.

CORRECT TITLE IN BROWSER (Safari): https://snipboard.io/1olaRj.jpg
INCORRECT TITLE IN TEXT (iMessage): https://snipboard.io/TyfGPl.jpg

This does not seem to happen on my MacBook Pro Apple Mail (Monterey 12.6.5) but it is happening on my iPhone (just got the iOS 16.5 update today but I haven't installed it yet), and it is happening on the label president's MacBook Pro (Ventura 13.3.1) and his iPhone (not sure what iOS).

I'm reaching out to Webkit because my last support chat this morning (with InMotion Hosting) suggested that it looked like a Webkit issue.

This may not seem like an "important" issue, but it is absolutely crucial to our business that this metadata is propagating correctly. I would greatly appreciate any insight that you might have into this problem.

Best,
David Cloyd

[David Cloyd]

We figured out what was happening.

NY separator (“|” or “-“) that is used within the “og:title” is causing issues, whether they are generated inline or using snippets. Once I removed them from everywhere – site title, Facebook OG and Twitter OG – everything worked perfectly. Parentheses even work fine.

I will be recoding ALL OG data on ALL of my sites now. Even if this gets fixed, I won’t take a chance anymore.

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/110074141>