{"id":8509,"date":"2026-01-18T15:29:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?p=8509"},"modified":"2026-01-18T16:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T00:04:17","slug":"what-is-the-indexnow-message-in-bing-webmaster-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/8509\/what-is-the-indexnow-message-in-bing-webmaster-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the IndexNow Message in Bing Webmaster Tools?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Bing Webmaster Tools, IndexNow message\" class=\"wp-image-8512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bing-webmaster-tools-indexnow-alert.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, (max-width: 1200px) 75vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you use <strong>Bing Webmaster Tools<\/strong>, you may have noticed a banner that says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>\u201cSet up IndexNow and boost your site\u2019s visibility in search engines within minutes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>At first glance, it <em>looks<\/em> like an ad.<br>It sounds promotional, it\u2019s visually highlighted, and it pushes you to click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s <strong>not an advertisement<\/strong> &#8211; and it\u2019s also <strong>not a Bing-owned service<\/strong>, which is where most of the confusion comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s clear this up properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Short Answer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u274c It\u2019s <strong>not an ad<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u274c It\u2019s <strong>not paid<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u274c IndexNow is <strong>not owned by Bing<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2705 IndexNow is an <strong>open indexing protocol<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2705 The official site is <strong>IndexNow.org<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2705 Bing is simply the <strong>most visible promoter<\/strong> of it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What IndexNow Actually Is (and Who It Belongs To)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IndexNow is an open, shared indexing protocol<\/strong>, hosted at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indexnow.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.indexnow.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was <strong>initiated by Microsoft\/Bing<\/strong>, but it is <strong>not a Bing-only system<\/strong> and <strong>not a Bing product<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone can implement it, and no Bing account, payment, or exclusive integration is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of it like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=robots.txt\">robots.txt<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=sitemap\">sitemaps<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>HTTPS<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Supported and promoted by search engines &#8211; but <strong>not owned by any single one<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Does It Appear Inside Bing Webmaster Tools?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Because <strong>Bing was the first major search engine to fully adopt IndexNow<\/strong> and integrate it deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Bing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Actively encourages site owners to enable it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Surfaces reminders inside Webmaster Tools<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uses marketing-style language to increase adoption<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why the message feels like an ad &#8211; but technically, it\u2019s a <strong>feature prompt<\/strong>, not advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No money changes hands.<br>No placement is bought.<br>Nothing is being sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What IndexNow Actually Does (No Hype)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>IndexNow lets your website <strong>notify search engines instantly<\/strong> when a URL changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That includes when a page is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Published<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Updated<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deleted<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of waiting for crawlers to eventually revisit your site, you proactively send a signal saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThis page changed &#8211; come take a look.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s all it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What It Does <em>Not<\/em> Do<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>IndexNow does <strong>not<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Improve rankings by itself<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Replace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=seo\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Override <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=crawl\">crawl<\/a> quality signals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Guarantee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=indexing\">indexing<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It improves <strong>speed<\/strong>, not <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=authority\">authority<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/6105\/does-faster-website-speed-increase-googlebot-crawl-frequency\/\">Does Faster Website Speed Increase Googlebot Crawl Frequency?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/6185\/how-to-increase-website-domain-authority-fast\/\">How to Increase Website Domain Authority Fast?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Bing Says \u201cBoost Your Site\u2019s Visibility\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is where wording causes confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bing uses phrases like <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=boost+visibility\">\u201cboost visibility\u201d<\/a><\/em> because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pages can appear in search <strong>sooner<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Updates are reflected <strong>faster<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Removed pages can drop out <strong>more quickly<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s an <strong>indirect benefit<\/strong>, not a ranking boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A good way to think about IndexNow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>It\u2019s a faster doorbell for search engines &#8211; not a megaphone.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who Should Actually Use IndexNow?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>IndexNow makes the most sense for sites that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Publish blog posts regularly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Update pages often<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Run e-commerce stores<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have dynamic or frequently changing content<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your site rarely changes, the benefit is smaller &#8211; but there\u2019s <strong>no downside<\/strong> to enabling it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Does Google Use IndexNow?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is another common question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Google does not officially support IndexNow<\/strong> as a direct indexing method<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Google still relies on traditional crawling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enabling IndexNow <strong>does not hurt Google SEO<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It also doesn\u2019t replace sitemaps or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/?s=internal+linking\">internal linking<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So IndexNow won\u2019t magically index pages in Google \u2014 but it won\u2019t interfere either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/5374\/internal-linking-dos-and-donts-what-to-avoid-and-what-to-focus-on\/\">Internal Linking Dos and Don\u2019ts: What to Avoid and What to Focus On<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/5371\/the-power-of-links-how-internal-and-external-links-boost-seo\/\">The Power of Links: How Internal and External Links Boost SEO<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Bing Pushes IndexNow So Hard<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a practical reason Bing promotes it aggressively:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reduces unnecessary crawling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saves server resources (for Bing <em>and<\/em> your site)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improves freshness of search results<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>From Bing\u2019s perspective, IndexNow is simply a <strong>better technical system<\/strong>, so they want more sites using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Final Takeaway<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>That IndexNow banner in Bing Webmaster Tools:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Is <strong>not an advertisement<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is <strong>not paid<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Does <strong>not belong exclusively to Bing<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is promoting an <strong>open protocol hosted at IndexNow.org<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your site publishes or updates content regularly, enabling IndexNow makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If not, you\u2019re not missing anything critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Either way, it\u2019s a <strong>tool<\/strong> &#8211; not a sales pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ready to design &amp; build your own website? Learn more about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/\">UltimateWB<\/a>! We also offer\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/web-design-packages\">web design packages<\/a>\u00a0if you would like your website designed and built for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Got a techy\/website question? Whether it\u2019s about UltimateWB or another website builder, web hosting, or other aspects of websites, just send in your question in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/ask-david\">\u201cAsk David!\u201d form<\/a>. We will email you when the answer is posted on the UltimateWB \u201cAsk David!\u201d section.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you use Bing Webmaster Tools, you may have noticed a banner that says: \u201cSet up IndexNow and boost your site\u2019s visibility in search engines within minutes.\u201d At first glance, it looks like an ad.It sounds promotional, it\u2019s visually highlighted, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/8509\/what-is-the-indexnow-message-in-bing-webmaster-tools\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,558],"tags":[2828,2146,5417,4064,2216,819,6412,1786,6410,1782,672,182,10,12,11,4693,2199],"class_list":["post-8509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-search-engine-optimization-seo","category-traffic-statistics-2","tag-authority","tag-bing","tag-bing-webmaster-tools","tag-boost-visibility","tag-crawl","tag-https","tag-improve-ranking","tag-indexing","tag-indexnow","tag-internal-linking","tag-microsoft","tag-robots-txt","tag-search-engine-optimization","tag-search-engine-ranking","tag-seo","tag-sitemaps","tag-visibility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8509"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8516,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509\/revisions\/8516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatewb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}