Google Deprecating Sitemaps Ping and Recommend Lastmod element
On Monday, Google announced the deprecation of the sitemap “ping” endpoint and offered guidelines for utilizing the lastmod element instead. According to Google’s explanation, the sitemap protocol includes an unauthenticated REST method for submitting sitemaps to search engines. However, internal data reveals that unauthenticated sitemap submissions have proven less effective and valuable. Google is discontinuing … Read more