diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppender.java b/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppender.java
index 6d5d081bd..1adcd4921 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppender.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppender.java
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 /**
@@ -72,6 +74,8 @@ public class LoggingAppender extends UnsynchronizedAppenderBase<ILoggingEvent> {
   private static final String LEVEL_NAME_KEY = "levelName";
   private static final String LEVEL_VALUE_KEY = "levelValue";
   private static final String LOGGER_NAME_KEY = "loggerName";
+  private static final String TYPE =
+      "type.googleapis.com/google.devtools.clouderrorreporting.v1beta1.ReportedErrorEvent";
   private static final List<LoggingEventEnhancer> DEFAULT_LOGGING_EVENT_ENHANCERS =
       ImmutableList.<LoggingEventEnhancer>of(new MDCEventEnhancer());
 
@@ -284,11 +288,17 @@ private LogEntry logEntryFor(ILoggingEvent e) {
     writeStack(e.getThrowableProxy(), "", payload);
 
     Level level = e.getLevel();
+    Severity severity = severityFor(level);
+
+    Map<String, Object> jsonContent = new HashMap<>();
+    jsonContent.put("message", payload.toString().trim());
+    if (severity == Severity.ERROR) {
+      jsonContent.put("@type", TYPE);
+    }
     LogEntry.Builder builder =
-        LogEntry.newBuilder(Payload.StringPayload.of(payload.toString().trim()))
+        LogEntry.newBuilder(Payload.JsonPayload.of(jsonContent))
             .setTimestamp(e.getTimeStamp())
-            .setSeverity(severityFor(level));
-
+            .setSeverity(severity);
     builder
         .addLabel(LEVEL_NAME_KEY, level.toString())
         .addLabel(LEVEL_VALUE_KEY, String.valueOf(level.toInt()))
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppenderTest.java b/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppenderTest.java
index a3add6f1e..ec85327ce 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppenderTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/logging/logback/LoggingAppenderTest.java
@@ -34,9 +34,10 @@
 import com.google.cloud.logging.Logging;
 import com.google.cloud.logging.Logging.WriteOption;
 import com.google.cloud.logging.LoggingOptions;
-import com.google.cloud.logging.Payload.StringPayload;
+import com.google.cloud.logging.Payload.JsonPayload;
 import com.google.cloud.logging.Severity;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import org.easymock.Capture;
 import org.easymock.EasyMock;
@@ -82,8 +83,11 @@ public void setUp() {
 
   @Test
   public void testFlushLevelConfigUpdatesLoggingFlushSeverity() {
+    Map<String, Object> jsonContent = new HashMap<>();
+    jsonContent.put("message", "this is a test");
+    JsonPayload payload = JsonPayload.of(jsonContent);
     LogEntry logEntry =
-        LogEntry.newBuilder(StringPayload.of("this is a test"))
+        LogEntry.newBuilder(payload)
             .setTimestamp(100000L)
             .setSeverity(Severity.WARNING)
             .setLabels(
@@ -110,8 +114,14 @@ public void testFlushLevelConfigUpdatesLoggingFlushSeverity() {
 
   @Test
   public void testFilterLogsOnlyLogsAtOrAboveLogLevel() {
+    Map<String, Object> jsonContent = new HashMap<>();
+    jsonContent.put("message", "this is a test");
+    jsonContent.put(
+        "@type",
+        "type.googleapis.com/google.devtools.clouderrorreporting.v1beta1.ReportedErrorEvent");
+    JsonPayload payload = JsonPayload.of(jsonContent);
     LogEntry logEntry =
-        LogEntry.newBuilder(StringPayload.of("this is a test"))
+        LogEntry.newBuilder(payload)
             .setTimestamp(100000L)
             .setSeverity(Severity.ERROR)
             .setLabels(
@@ -145,8 +155,11 @@ public void testFilterLogsOnlyLogsAtOrAboveLogLevel() {
 
   @Test
   public void testEnhancersAddCorrectLabelsToLogEntries() {
+    Map<String, Object> jsonContent = new HashMap<>();
+    jsonContent.put("message", "this is a test");
+    JsonPayload payload = JsonPayload.of(jsonContent);
     LogEntry logEntry =
-        LogEntry.newBuilder(StringPayload.of("this is a test"))
+        LogEntry.newBuilder(payload)
             .setTimestamp(100000L)
             .setSeverity(Severity.WARNING)
             .setLabels(
@@ -194,8 +207,11 @@ public void testDefaultWriteOptionsHasExpectedDefaults() {
 
   @Test
   public void testMdcValuesAreConvertedToLabels() {
+    Map<String, Object> jsonContent = new HashMap<>();
+    jsonContent.put("message", "this is a test");
+    JsonPayload payload = JsonPayload.of(jsonContent);
     LogEntry logEntry =
-        LogEntry.newBuilder(StringPayload.of("this is a test"))
+        LogEntry.newBuilder(payload)
             .setTimestamp(100000L)
             .setSeverity(Severity.INFO)
             .setLabels(