--- title: "IndexNow and Google Indexing API: Check your page type." description: "Set up your IndexNow key and Google service account, check eligible page types, and log notices when you publish, update, or delete." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/indexnow-indexing-api-developers" date: "2026-03-20" modified: "2026-09-25" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Real estate - Real estate - [Real estate](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - Work - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Prepare your six-question brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prepare-your-six-question-brief) - Build - [Site build, content library with SEO, signal desk](https://scalewithsearch.com/work) - For your business - Trades and home services - [Auto body and collision shops](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/auto-body-and-collision-shops) - [Foundation and home repair contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/foundation-and-home-repair) - 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A job board posts 400 new listings on Monday. Most expire by Friday. If search engines find the listings through their normal crawl, many listings expire before they appear in results. Search engines usually discover pages by crawling. The crawler visits your site, finds links, adds them to a queue, and indexes them later. That can take days or weeks, depending on how often the engine crawls your site. IndexNow and the Google Indexing API let you notify search engines when a URL changes. IndexNow is an open protocol used by Microsoft Bing, Yandex, and other engines. Google does not accept it. The Google Indexing API is Google's own notification API, and Google limits it to two kinds of pages. This article covers when to use each, how to set them up, their limits, and how to connect them to your publish process. ## Know what notification changes Without notification, a new page follows five steps: 1. You publish the page. 2. You list it in the sitemap. This step is optional but recommended. 3. The crawler discovers the URL. For an established site this takes one to seven days. A new site can wait weeks. 4. The crawler fetches the page. 5. The engine indexes it, if the page passes its quality checks. The total is often 3 to 30 days, depending on site authority and crawl budget. For news, events, job listings, and flash sales, that delay can make the page useless. With notification, you send a request when you publish. The engine puts the URL in its crawl queue within minutes and often crawls it within hours. Notification speeds up discovery only. It does not guarantee indexing, and it does not affect ranking. Content quality, links, and relevance still decide those. ## Set up IndexNow Microsoft Bing, Yandex, Seznam.cz, Naver, and other participating engines support IndexNow. A notice sent to one participating engine is shared with the others. Google did not support IndexNow as of 2026. For Google, rely on sitemaps and internal links. The [XML sitemap guide](/articles/xml-sitemap-best-practices-developers) covers that side. ### Step 1: create a key The key proves that you control the host. It must be 8 to 128 characters long and use only letters, numbers, and hyphens. Generate one: ```bash openssl rand -hex 16 # Output example: 3f1c2b9a8d7e6f5a4b3c2d1e0f9a8b7c ``` A UUID from `uuidgen` also works. ### Step 2: host the key file Create a UTF-8 text file named after the key at the root of your site. Put the key inside it: ``` https://example.com/3f1c2b9a8d7e6f5a4b3c2d1e0f9a8b7c.txt ``` The file contains one line: ``` 3f1c2b9a8d7e6f5a4b3c2d1e0f9a8b7c ``` You can host the file somewhere else on the host. If you do, send its URL in the `keyLocation` parameter. Confirm that the file returns `200 OK`: ```bash curl -I https://example.com/3f1c2b9a8d7e6f5a4b3c2d1e0f9a8b7c.txt ``` ### Step 3: send the URLs Send a request to `https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow`. It accepts `POST` for a list and `GET` for one URL. | Parameter | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | `host` | Yes | Your host, for example `example.com` | | `key` | Yes | Your key | | `urlList` | Yes, for `POST` | The URLs that changed, up to 10,000 in one request | | `keyLocation` | No | The key file URL, if it is not at the root | A `POST` with JSON: ```bash curl -X POST https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow \ -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \ -d '{ "host": "example.com", "key": "3f1c2b9a8d7e6f5a4b3c2d1e0f9a8b7c", "urlList": [ "https://example.com/new-page", "https://example.com/updated-page" ] }' ``` A `GET` for one URL: ```bash curl "https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://example.com/new-page&key=3f1c2b9a8d7e6f5a4b3c2d1e0f9a8b7c" ``` ### Read the response codes | Code | Meaning | |---|---| | `200 OK` | The URLs were received. | | `202 Accepted` | The URLs were received. Key validation is pending. | | `400 Bad Request` | The request format is wrong. | | `403 Forbidden` | The key is not valid, or the key file is missing or does not match. | | `422 Unprocessable Entity` | The URLs do not belong to the host, or the key does not match the protocol rules. | | `429 Too Many Requests` | Too many requests. The engine may treat them as spam. | IndexNow publishes no fixed rate limit. Submit URLs in batches. Submit a URL only when its content changes: a new page, an update, or a deletion. Do not submit the same URL many times in one day. You cannot submit a URL on a host you do not control, because the engine checks the key file on that host. ### Send deletions the same way IndexNow has no separate delete call. When you delete a page, make it return `404` or `410`, then submit its URL. The engine crawls the URL, sees the status, and removes it. The [HTTP status codes guide](/articles/http-status-codes-seo) explains which code to use. ## Add IndexNow to your stack ### Node.js Node.js 18 and later include `fetch`, so you need no extra package: ```javascript const INDEXNOW_KEY = process.env.INDEXNOW_KEY; const HOST = 'example.com'; async function submitToIndexNow(urls) { const response = await fetch('https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow', { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=utf-8' }, body: JSON.stringify({ host: HOST, key: INDEXNOW_KEY, urlList: urls }), }); if (!response.ok && response.status !== 202) { console.error('IndexNow error:', response.status, await response.text()); } } submitToIndexNow([ 'https://example.com/new-page', 'https://example.com/updated-page', ]); ``` ### Python Install the client with `pip install requests`: ```python import os import requests def submit_to_indexnow(urls): payload = { 'host': 'example.com', 'key': os.environ['INDEXNOW_KEY'], 'urlList': urls, } response = requests.post('https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow', json=payload, timeout=10) print(f'IndexNow response: {response.status_code}') submit_to_indexnow([ 'https://example.com/new-page', 'https://example.com/updated-page', ]) ``` ### WordPress Several WordPress SEO plugins include IndexNow support. If you prefer code, add this to your theme's `functions.php` or a small plugin: ```php function submit_to_indexnow($urls) { $payload = wp_json_encode([ 'host' => 'example.com', 'key' => INDEXNOW_KEY, 'urlList' => $urls, ]); $response = wp_remote_post('https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow', [ 'headers' => ['Content-Type' => 'application/json; charset=utf-8'], 'body' => $payload, ]); if (is_wp_error($response)) { error_log('IndexNow error: ' . $response->get_error_message()); } } add_action('save_post', function ($post_id) { if (wp_is_post_revision($post_id) || wp_is_post_autosave($post_id)) { return; } if (get_post_status($post_id) === 'publish') { submit_to_indexnow([get_permalink($post_id)]); } }); ``` Define `INDEXNOW_KEY` in `wp-config.php`. The revision check stops a notice on every autosave. ## Use the Google Indexing API only for eligible pages Google limits the Indexing API to two page types: - Job postings, with `JobPosting` structured data. - Livestream videos, with `BroadcastEvent` structured data inside a `VideoObject`. It does not support general pages, blog posts, product pages, or news articles. In 2024, Google updated its documentation to state that it checks all submissions for spam, and that abuse can lead to revoked access. For other pages, use sitemaps. ### Step 1: create a Google Cloud project 1. Open the Google Cloud Console at `console.cloud.google.com`. 2. Create a project, for example `indexing-api`. 3. Open `APIs & Services`, then `Library`. Search for "Web Search Indexing API" and enable it. ### Step 2: create a service account 1. Open `IAM & Admin`, then `Service Accounts`. 2. Select `Create service account` and give it a name, for example `indexing-api-bot`. 3. Create a key in JSON format and download it. Store it as a secret. Do not commit it to a repository. The service account needs no special project role for this API. Its access comes from Search Console in the next step. The key file looks like this: ```json { "type": "service_account", "project_id": "your-project-id", "private_key_id": "...", "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...", "client_email": "indexing-api-bot@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com" } ``` ### Step 3: make the service account an owner in Search Console 1. Open Google Search Console for your property. 2. Select `Settings`, then `Users and permissions`. 3. Select `Add user`. 4. Enter the service account email, for example `indexing-api-bot@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com`. 5. Select `Owner`, then `Add`. The service account can now send notices for URLs in that property. ### Step 4: send notices Send a `POST` to `https://indexing.googleapis.com/v3/urlNotifications:publish` with an OAuth 2.0 token from the service account: ```json { "url": "https://example.com/jobs/senior-electrician", "type": "URL_UPDATED" } ``` Use `URL_UPDATED` for a new or changed page. Use `URL_DELETED` when you remove a page. The default quota is 200 publish requests per day for each project. You can request more through the quota page in the Cloud Console. The API is free. In Node.js, install `googleapis`: ```javascript const { google } = require('googleapis'); async function submitToGoogleIndexing(url, type = 'URL_UPDATED') { const auth = new google.auth.GoogleAuth({ keyFile: process.env.GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS, scopes: ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/indexing'], }); const indexing = google.indexing({ version: 'v3', auth }); const response = await indexing.urlNotifications.publish({ requestBody: { url, type }, }); console.log('Indexing API response:', response.data); } submitToGoogleIndexing('https://example.com/jobs/senior-electrician'); ``` In Python, install `google-auth` and `google-api-python-client`: ```python from google.oauth2 import service_account from googleapiclient.discovery import build def submit_to_google_indexing(url, notification_type='URL_UPDATED'): credentials = service_account.Credentials.from_service_account_file( 'service-account-key.json', scopes=['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/indexing'], ) service = build('indexing', 'v3', credentials=credentials) body = {'url': url, 'type': notification_type} return service.urlNotifications().publish(body=body).execute() ``` ## Compare the two protocols | Feature | IndexNow | Google Indexing API | |---|---|---| | Search engines | Bing, Yandex, Seznam.cz, Naver, and other participants | Google only | | Setup | A key and a key file | A Cloud project, a service account, and Search Console ownership | | Eligible pages | Any page on your host | Job postings and livestreams only | | Limits | No fixed limit; submit only real changes | 200 publish requests per day by default | | Authentication | Key file on your host | OAuth 2.0 service account | | Cost | Free | Free | If you publish job postings or livestreams, implement both. For all other content, use IndexNow for the engines that support it, and sitemaps for Google. ## Troubleshoot failed requests For IndexNow, a `403` almost always means the key file is missing, returns an error, or holds a different key. Fetch the file with `curl` and compare. A `400` means the JSON is malformed or a required field is missing. A `429` means you submit too often; send only URLs that changed. For the Google Indexing API, a `403` usually means the service account is not an owner of the Search Console property. A `401` means the credentials are wrong or expired. A `429` means you used the daily quota. To see usage, open `APIs & Services` in the Cloud Console, select the Indexing API, and open its quota page. To confirm that Google indexed an eligible page, use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. The [Search Console guide by role](/articles/google-search-console-by-role) covers that report and the others your team should watch. ## Automate notices on publish, update, and delete Connect notices to your CMS so nobody has to remember them. 1. On publish: the CMS fires a webhook or a save hook. Send the URL to IndexNow. If the page is a job posting or a livestream, also send `URL_UPDATED` to the Google Indexing API. 2. On update: send the URL to IndexNow again. For eligible pages, send `URL_UPDATED` to Google. 3. On delete: make the URL return `404` or `410`. Then send the URL to IndexNow. For eligible pages, send `URL_DELETED` to Google. Log each request and its response code. 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Scale With Search 2026 [scalewithsearch.com](https://scalewithsearch.com) ```