IndexNow

IndexNow is an open protocol allowing sites to instantly notify search engines about content changes (new pages, updates, deletions).

Proposed by Microsoft and Yandex in 2021. Adopted by: Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam.cz. Google does not officially support it.

Why it matters

Classical model: the search engine crawls your site on its own schedule. New material can take days or weeks to enter the index. IndexNow flips to push: you notify of changes.

• •Real impact:
• •Bing indexes new pages in minutes (vs. days)
• •Yandex — in hours (vs. days)
• •Especially critical for news sites, e-commerce, and frequently updated blogs

How to implement

1. Generate an API key (any string 8-128 characters) 2. Place the key as a file at site root: `yourkey.txt` with the key value 3. Send a request:

GET https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow
  ?url=https://example.com/new-page
  &key=YOUR-KEY

POST with arrays supports up to 10,000 URLs per call.

Ready integrations

• •WordPress — IndexNow plugin, Yoast SEO (since v18)
• •Cloudflare — automatic on Pro+ subscription
• •Vercel/Netlify — via deploy webhooks
• •Shopify — built-in since 2023

SEO effect

No direct ranking impact, but indirect one is large: pages get indexed faster → start receiving traffic faster → accumulate behavioral signals faster.