IndexNow Protocol Update Allows Data Sharing Between Search Engines
18, Jan 2022
Craig UptonIndexNow is a protocol that has revolutionised the manner in which content is indexed by search engines. The new IndexNow protocol has been made simpler by Microsoft in order for submitted URLs to be shared at the same time between search engines.
Launched in October 2021, IndexNow was developed as a solution for websites to be able to have site content indexed and updated quicker. It allows publishers to send notifications to search engines when a new page is added to a site or when an existing page has been updated. The protocol saves search engines the need to crawl sites to ascertain if any new pages or updates have been made.
This protocol makes sure that any URL that has been submitted to IndexNow, is shared straight away to all search engines that are similar. This results in webmasters only needing to notify a single API endpoint because the URL’s will share automatically to all search engines that support the IndexNow protocol.
As well as saving time and effort the IndexNow protocol helps search engines to identify relevant search content, creating a more effective internet as a whole.
URL sharing from IndexNow has already begun from Yahoo to Yandex and vice-versa, with the expectation that other search engines will do the same as soon as they have set up the required infrastructure.
There is an agreement in place between the participating search engines, who have adopted the IndexNow protocol, that they automatically share submitted URL’s.
The webmaster team from Microsoft Bing stated in an announcement:
“The IndexNow protocol can help the entire search industry get their content indexed faster, while using fewer resources. Early adoption of IndexNow can help businesses deliver timely information to their users across search engines and reap benefits of staying ahead of the curve.”
The more sites that implement the new protocol, the more IndexNow will continue to improve, with end aim of delivering the best and newest content to the end user, as well as maximising indexing and optimising crawl load management.
The new protocol has been developed by Yandex and Microsoft but as it is an open source protocol it is accessible to all of the search engines. The search engines currently adopting the IndexNow protocol include the following: Wix, Duda, Cloudflare, Akamai, Botify, oncrawl, onley and Yext.
