Webmaster Central Blog
Official news on crawling and indexing sites for the Google index
Using RSS/Atom feeds to discover new URLs
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Webmaster Level: Intermediate
Google uses numerous sources to find new webpages, from links we find on the web to
submitted URLs
. We aim to discover new pages quickly so that users can find new content in Google search results soon after they go live. We recently launched a feature that uses RSS and Atom feeds for the discovery of new webpages.
RSS/Atom feeds have been very popular in recent years as a mechanism for content publication. They allow readers to check for new content from publishers. Using feeds for discovery allows us to get these new pages into our index more quickly than traditional crawling methods. We may use many potential sources to access updates from feeds including Reader, notification services, or direct crawls of feeds. Going forward, we might also explore mechanisms such as
PubSubHubbub
to identify updated items.
In order for us to use your RSS/Atom feeds for discovery, it's important that crawling these files is not disallowed by your
robots.txt
. To find out if Googlebot can crawl your feeds and find your pages as fast as possible, test your feed URLs with the
robots.txt tester in Google Webmaster Tools
.
Written by Raymond Lo, Guhan Viswanathan, and Dave Weissman, Crawl and Indexing Team
Hey!
Check here if your site is mobile-friendly.
Labels
accessibility
10
advanced
195
AMP
13
Android
2
API
7
apps
7
autocomplete
2
beginner
172
CAPTCHA
1
Chrome
2
cms
1
crawling and indexing
157
encryption
3
events
50
feedback and communication
83
forums
5
general tips
90
geotargeting
1
Google Assistant
3
Google I/O
3
Google Images
3
Google News
2
hacked sites
12
hangout
1
hreflang
3
https
5
images
12
intermediate
204
interstitials
1
javascript
8
job search
2
localization
21
malware
6
mobile
63
mobile-friendly
14
nohacked
1
performance
17
product expert
1
product experts
1
products and services
63
questions
3
recipes
1
rendering
2
Responsive Web Design
3
rich cards
7
rich results
10
search console
35
search for beginners
1
search queries
7
search results
139
security
12
seo
1
sitemaps
46
speed
5
structured data
33
summit
1
TLDs
1
url removals
1
UX
3
verification
8
video
6
webmaster community
22
webmaster forum
1
webmaster guidelines
56
webmaster tools
177
webmasters
1
youtube channel
6
Archive
2020
Jan
2019
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2018
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2017
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2016
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Feed
Follow @googlewmc
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Subscribe via email
Enter your email address:
Delivered by
FeedBurner
