News Sitemaps
Get your news articles indexed quickly with Google News sitemap support
Why News Sitemaps?
News sitemaps are designed specifically for time-sensitive content. They help Google News discover and index your articles faster than standard sitemaps:
- Priority indexing - Google News crawlers check news sitemaps more frequently
- Google News inclusion - Required for appearing in Google News results
- Rich metadata - Include publication info, keywords, and stock tickers
- Time-sensitive content - Optimized for articles published within 48 hours
Freshness Requirement: Google only processes news sitemap entries for articles published within the last 48 hours. Older articles should be in your standard sitemap instead.
Supported Fields
SitemapHost supports all Google News sitemap fields:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
publication.name | Yes | Name of the publication (e.g., "The Example Times") |
publication.language | Yes | ISO 639 language code (e.g., "en", "es", "fr") |
title | Yes | The article headline |
publication_date | Yes | When the article was published (ISO 8601 format) |
keywords | No | Array of keywords/tags for the article |
stock_tickers | No | Stock symbols (e.g., ["NASDAQ:GOOG", "NYSE:T"]) |
API Usage
Include a news object for each URL to create a news sitemap:
{
"domain": "sitemap.yoursite.com",
"urls": [
{
"loc": "https://yoursite.com/news/breaking-story",
"news": {
"publication": {
"name": "Your News Site",
"language": "en"
},
"title": "Breaking: Major Tech Company Announces New Product",
"publication_date": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
"keywords": ["technology", "product launch", "breaking news"],
"stock_tickers": ["NASDAQ:TECH"]
}
},
{
"loc": "https://yoursite.com/news/market-update",
"news": {
"publication": {
"name": "Your News Site",
"language": "en"
},
"title": "Markets React to Federal Reserve Decision",
"publication_date": "2024-01-15T09:00:00Z",
"keywords": ["markets", "federal reserve", "economy"]
}
}
],
"pingGoogle": true
}Generated XML Output
SitemapHost generates valid news sitemap XML with the proper namespace:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://yoursite.com/news/breaking-story</loc>
<news:news>
<news:publication>
<news:name>Your News Site</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>
<news:publication_date>2024-01-15T10:30:00Z</news:publication_date>
<news:title>Breaking: Major Tech Company Announces New Product</news:title>
<news:keywords>technology, product launch, breaking news</news:keywords>
<news:stock_tickers>NASDAQ:TECH</news:stock_tickers>
</news:news>
</url>
</urlset>Limits and Requirements
| Limit | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum URLs | 1,000 | Google News sitemap limit |
| Article age | 48 hours | Maximum age for news indexing |
| Sitemap freshness | Update frequently | Google expects regular updates |
| Language code | ISO 639 | 2-3 letter codes (en, es, zh-Hans) |
Best Practices
- Update frequently - Regenerate your news sitemap whenever you publish new content
- Use accurate publication dates - Must reflect actual article publish time
- Keep it fresh - Remove articles older than 48 hours from the news sitemap
- Consistent publication name - Use the same name across all articles
- Add relevant keywords - Help categorize your articles for better discovery
Tip: Register your site with Google Publisher Center for the best Google News integration. News sitemaps alone may not get you into Google News.
Combine with Standard Sitemaps
Use news sitemaps alongside your standard sitemap for complete coverage:
- News sitemap - Current articles (last 48 hours)
- Standard sitemap - All pages including archived articles
- Image sitemap - Article images for Google Images
Next Steps
- Upload API - Automate news sitemap updates with the API
- Search Engine Notifications - Notify search engines when your news sitemap updates