Google has announced that a new Real Time Search Indexing API is on its way to make it easier for search engine users to find more up-to-date and relevant content and enable publishers to speed up indexing for new articles.
During the Google I/O for SEOs last week, Google News’ Richard Gingras said that the API was currently being beta tested and is designed to reduce the delay between when content is submitted by a publisher and when Google discovers the content. This will be particularly useful for brands and sites breaking news stories and other important content.
Google believes that the arrival of the new API will enable it to “surface real time results for real time query spikes.” Images shown at the event indicate that this type of immediate content will feature in a “Happening now” section in SERPs and will also be AMP-enabled to ensure that results surface faster and load quickly for the end-user.
Discovery and reach
Real Time Search Indexing API should take advantage of Google’s other content formats too, so expect to see real time video and the AMP carousel in search results in the future. This could potentially position Google Search as a rival to Twitter for live events and the latest news. Google is planning on releasing a more extensive beta in the upcoming months.
“Users are coming to search for more than just recipes, movies or events,” Gingras said during the official announcement. “They’re also about searching for things happening right now. And I mean, right now, as in right this moment. Not hours ago, not 15 minutes ago. Under the current model, publishers have to wait for Google to publish their content. That means the freshest content isn’t reaching users at the moment it matters most.”
Gingras added that publishers would benefit from increased reach and discovery, while users would finally be able to get access to real time results in SERPs. He concluded: “It’s an exciting new area and we’re just getting started. We’ve launched a pilot within the next few months and we’ll roll it out to more publishers over the next year.”
