Google Removes Public Submit URL to Google Tool
Google has removed the public version of their submit URL tool. This tool allowed anyone to submit a URL to Google, as it wasn’t restricted to site owners only,
We've had to drop the public submission feature, but we continue to welcome your submissions using the usual tool in Search Console and through sitemaps directly.
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) July 25, 2018
Why was this done? While there were some site owners who used it to submit URLs who were unaware of Google Search Console, it is likely the majority of those using the tool were SEOs to submit pages they didn’t own. SEOs could submit a URL for a page they have a link on, to get the link indexed and pushing PageRank faster. Or they could use it to get a social media page indexed faster, often for reputation management purposes, such as a Facebook page or Twitter profile. Some would do it on competitor sites to get spammy pages indexed and then file a spam report.
They do suggest the alternative ways for site owners to submit their pages via search console, either Fetch and Submit or via sitemaps, something most site owners were doing already. Their developer documents also suggest Pubsubhubbub for those using Atom/RSS.
https://twitter.com/googlewmc/status/1022065241721630720
Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn’t sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.
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