SEO
IndexNow
Last updated
An open protocol that lets websites notify search engines (Bing, Yandex, Naver) instantly when content is added, updated or deleted — bypassing crawl wait times.
Full definition
IndexNow is an open protocol launched in 2021 by Microsoft and Yandex that allows websites to push notifications to participating search engines when content changes. Instead of waiting for crawlers to discover new pages (which can take days or weeks), an IndexNow ping notifies Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam and Yep within minutes. Implementation: place a verification key file (random hex) at the site root, then POST to https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow with URLs and the key. Adopted by Cloudflare, Vercel, and major CMSs by 2024. Google does not participate in IndexNow but offers similar functionality through Search Console's URL Inspection tool.
Examples
- ·Pushing all 52 page URLs to IndexNow on every Vercel production deploy.
- ·Using IndexNow to ensure new product reviews appear in Bing search within an hour of publication.
- ·Cloudflare's Crawler Hints feature auto-implementing IndexNow for sites behind Cloudflare.