People often talk about the Google Indexing API and IndexNow as if they were two versions of the same thing. They aren't. They come from different companies, reach different search engines, and are meant for different kinds of content. If you pick the wrong one for a job, you'll either get nothing back or end up relying on something the engine says it doesn't support.
Here is a plain comparison.
The short version
- IndexNow is an open protocol supported by Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver and Yep. It works for any kind of URL on a site you control. Google does not support IndexNow.
- Google's Indexing API reaches Google only. Google officially documents it for pages with JobPosting structured data or BroadcastEvent embedded in a VideoObject. It is not a general-purpose submission channel.
IndexNow in detail
Who supports it
IndexNow was introduced in 2021 by Microsoft Bing and Yandex. Since then other engines have joined, including Seznam (Czech Republic), Naver (South Korea) and Yep. Participating engines share submissions with each other, so one ping to any participating endpoint reaches the rest.
Google tested the protocol in 2021 but has not adopted it. Sending IndexNow pings does nothing for Google.
How it works
- Generate a key (a string of 8 to 128 characters: letters, numbers and dashes).
- Host it as a text file on your domain, for example
https://example.com/abc123.txt, containing the key. - Send a GET request for one URL, or a POST with a JSON list of URLs, to a participating endpoint.
The protocol allows up to 10,000 URLs in a single POST. Each URL must belong to the host that the key verifies, which means IndexNow only works for sites you control. You can't use it to notify engines about your backlink on someone else's blog.
What it's good for
- New pages, updated pages and deleted pages on your own site
- E-commerce stock and price changes
- News and frequently updated content
- Getting Bing to crawl faster, which also matters for Yahoo and DuckDuckGo (see our Bing indexing guide)
Limits to know
An IndexNow ping is a hint. Participating engines say they will consider submitted URLs for crawling, not that they will index them. Pinging the same unchanged URL over and over does not help and may be ignored.
Google's Indexing API in detail
What Google says it's for
Google's documentation limits the Indexing API to two kinds of pages: job postings (pages with JobPosting structured data) and livestream videos (pages with BroadcastEvent embedded in a VideoObject). For those page types it lets you tell Google that a URL was updated or removed, so short-lived content gets crawled while it still matters.
Google has said directly that using the API for other content types is not supported. Some people use it for ordinary pages anyway. We don't recommend building a workflow around behaviour the engine has told you it doesn't support, because it can stop working without notice.
How it works
- Create a project in Google Cloud and enable the Indexing API.
- Create a service account and download its JSON key.
- Add the service account's email as an owner of the property in Google Search Console.
- Send authenticated
URL_UPDATEDorURL_DELETEDnotifications.
There's a default daily quota per project. You can see it, and request a higher one, in the Google Cloud console.
What it's good for
- Job boards and career pages
- Livestream event pages
- Not much else, officially
Side-by-side
Search engines reached
- IndexNow: Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver, Yep
- Google Indexing API: Google only
Content allowed
- IndexNow: any URL on a host you've verified with a key file
- Google Indexing API: officially, JobPosting and BroadcastEvent pages only
Ownership required
- IndexNow: yes, through a hosted key file
- Google Indexing API: yes, through a service account with owner rights in Search Console
Setup effort
- IndexNow: a few minutes. Many CMS plugins and CDNs support it out of the box.
- Google Indexing API: moderate. You need Google Cloud, a service account, OAuth signing and Search Console access.
Works for third-party URLs (backlinks)
- Neither. Both protocols require you to control the site, which matters if you're trying to get backlinks indexed.
So how do you get Google to crawl ordinary pages faster?
For most content, Google relies on discovery: internal links, external links, and sitemaps with accurate lastmod dates. Search Console's URL Inspection lets you request indexing for individual URLs on sites you own, but the daily limit is small. Beyond that, the best things you can do are:
- Link new pages from pages Google already crawls often, such as your homepage, category pages and recent posts
- Keep your sitemap clean and accurate. Check it with the sitemap validator.
- Make sure the page is indexable before you ask anyone to crawl it. Run it through the indexability checker.
- Create legitimate discovery paths so Googlebot has a reason to fetch the URL
That's the gap an indexing service fills for Google: it creates crawl signals rather than relying on a protocol Google doesn't offer for general content.
A sensible combined workflow
- Set up IndexNow on every site you own. It's free, fast and covers several engines.
- Use the Google Indexing API only if you publish job postings or livestreams.
- Keep sitemaps accurate and submit them in both Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- For important URLs, especially ones on sites you don't control, use an indexing service that verifies crawler visits.
- Check index status a few days later and fix anything that was crawled but not indexed.
How QuickIndexx handles this
QuickIndexx sends IndexNow notifications for engines that support the protocol and uses discovery signals for Google, where IndexNow doesn't apply. You see the crawler visits as they happen, and if no crawl is recorded within 24 hours the credit is returned. The docs explain each channel, and the pricing page lists the plans.