My Quick Fix

Problem

Earlier Today I wanted to notify Google about changes to an XML sitemap that I’d updated, and wondered if I could do it without having to log into Webmaster Tools. Call it lazyness, but I knew that the WordPress Sitemap plug-in ‘somehow’ alerted Google whenever it created a new sitemap for this blog, so I wanted to know how too!

Solution

Turns out it’s quite simple! Google, Live Search, Yahoo and ASK all allow you to ‘ping’ them about updates, via HTTP. Here are the details of each method:

Google ping URL:

http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ping?sitemap=http://[path to sitemap file]

Notes: The Google docs on this subject suggest that the whole string is URL encoded before its sent. If the update request is successful, an HTTP 200 response code will be returned.

Live Search ping URL:

http://webmaster.live.com/ping.aspx?siteMap=http://[path to sitemap file]

Notes: The Live Search Webmaster Center Blog makes suggestions on how best to submit and maintain your sitemap. Like Google, MS also have a Webmaster Tools system.

Yahoo ping URL:

http://search.yahooapis.com/SiteExplorerService/V1/ping?sitemap=http://[path to sitemap file]

Notes: The Yahoo Developer Network page on the subject provides comprehensive details.

Ask ping URL:

http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=http://[path to sitemap file]

Notes: Ask provide some details here, by now you know the score, as all four search providers follow the sitemap protocol laid out at www.sitemaps.org.

Any Questions or corrections? please use the comments below.