Probably duplicating Mark's post but got this in an email todayl
Big Three Engines Get Together for Better Searches
By Brian Quinton
Yahoo! and Microsoft have agreed to join Google in supporting a software protocol that will make it easier for them to find and include Web pages in their general search indexes.
The three companies announced yesterday that they will accept Web page submissions using Sitemaps 0.90, described in a release as "a free and easy way for Webmasters to notify search engines about their Web sites and be indexed more comprehensively and efficiently."
Under the Sitemaps system, Web publishers submit an XML file that lists all the URLs of a Web site's pages, along with data about each page: when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and its importance relative to other pages on the site. That information will help search engines' bots crawl and comprehend the site more accurately -- something they now do using links within the site and coming in from other sites. There will be no charge to Web operators for submitting Sitemap files.
Sitemaps was originally developed as a joint venture by Google and Yahoo! Google began encouraging Web operators to make use of the protocol more than a year ago, when competition among search engines to build the biggest Web index was at its height. Since then, Sitemaps has found its footing among many large Web sites with rapidly changing content, including news sites, social networks and comparison shopping sites.
In agreeing to join in support for the protocol, Yahoo! and Microsoft are easing the burden on Web publishers by enabling them to submit the same Sitemap file to the three largest search engines. Operators will also have an easy way to check to see whether their Web pages have been crawled, something they can only determine indirectly now. Web sites should benefit from increased referrals through search, and search marketing will become more effective thanks to better search results for users.
"Sitemaps addresses the challenges of a growing and dynamic Web by letting webmasters and search engines talk to each other, enabling a better Web crawl and better results," said Narayan Shivakumar, a Google "distinguished entrepreneur", in a joint release.
The three search companies said they will encourage other search engines to adopt the Sitemaps protocol, as well as makers of related software such as content management systems.
To reflect its newly independent stature, the Sitemaps protocol will be moved from Google's domain and placed at a new Web site,
www.sitemaps.org, which the trio will maintain and update.
