Bing PubHub is being retired, exactly when, I am not sure, but it is going away. Microsoft posted the notice in Bing Webmaster Tools and it links to a document that says "PubHub will no longer be accepting new publisher applications effective immediately" but doesn't say when it will completely go away.
Here is a screenshot of the notice in Bing Webmaster Tools:
Bing News PubHub first launched in 2016 and then moved into Bing Webmaster Tools in 2022 and now it is being shut down. The notice of the shut down is not just in Bing Webmaster Tools but also in the help document here.
That beign said, when you read through the retire document, it makes zero mention of IndexNow, which I find weird.
The document says:
As part of our ongoing efforts to streamline operations and enhance the efficiencies of our news offerings, PubHub will no longer be accepting new publisher applications effective immediately. This decision aligns with our strategy to optimize how content is ingested and featured in Bing News.
Why not mention IndexNow is a way to help get your new fresh content indexed by Bing?
Here is the full document text, just in case it changes:
An Update on PubHub Submissions
As part of our ongoing efforts to streamline operations and enhance the efficiencies of our news offerings, PubHub will no longer be accepting new publisher applications effective immediately. This decision aligns with our strategy to optimize how content is ingested and featured in Bing News.What Does This Mean for Existing Submissions?
If you have a pending submission, rest assured that your application is still under review. Although we are no longer accepting new submissions, we remain dedicated to keeping you updated on the progress and outcome of your existing submissions. Our team is working diligently to review all pending submissions and will notify you once a decision is made.How Can Publishers Stay Engaged with Bing News?
We’re excited to announce a new approach to discovering and featuring news content on Bing.Our systems will now automatically identify and rank eligible news based on key factors such as authority, originality, relevance, freshness, location, and language. This update will provide more comprehensive news coverage on Bing News, replacing the manual submission process previously used with PubHub.
We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your ongoing contributions to Bing's news ecosystem.
For further assistance or inquiries, please visit our support page or contact our helpdesk. Thank you for being a valued part of our publishing community.
Q&A
Why is PubHub closing to new submissions?
PubHub has been instrumental in improving Bing News index coverage and visual content. However, as circumstances have evolved, we’ll adopt new approaches to enhance Bing News index coverage and visual content without depending on PubHub submissions.
How can I check the status of my submission?
Publishers can log in to Bing Webmaster Tool to review the status of their submissions.
How do I know if a site is indexed by Bing Index?
To verify that content from your domain is being indexed by Bing, we recommend that you conduct a search using the following query: site:domain.com (replace domain.com with your website address)
What is Bing’s new strategy for discovering news content?
News content from publishers that comply with our content policies is automatically evaluated by our systems for inclusion in Bing News. This evaluation is based on factors such as authority, originality, relevance, freshness, location, and language.
What happens to my PubHub agreement signed with Bing?
If your site is already signed up as a publisher, it’s included in the Bing News index, so there’s no need to worry about any agreements with PubHub. On the other hand, if your site isn’t part of the Bing News index, the PubHub protocol won’t apply to you.
Does PubHub give publishers preferential treatment in Bing News ranking?
No. PubHub membership does not influence Bing News ranking. Our ranking system primarily evaluates content based on relevance, freshness, authority, and newsworthiness. However, certain presentation scenarios on Bing News require news thumbnails to meet specific size thresholds. The PubHub agreement grants rights to use appropriately sized images, which helps meet these requirements. Publishers can achieve the same effect independently by implementing the Open Graph Protocol to specify thumbnail images for their articles.
Forum discussion at X.
Update: Fabrice Canel from Microsoft responded on LinkedIn saying:
Yes, IndexNow is indeed relevant. Like sitemaps, IndexNow is a protocol designed to help websites get their latest content indexed quickly by Bing and other search engines that support it.We strongly recommend that news websites adopt IndexNow, especially in the case of breaking news, where every second counts. Rapid indexing ensures that content appears in search results ahead of competitors and begins accumulating valuable relevance signals, such as backlinks, sooner.
However, we didn’t list it here because it’s just one of several mechanisms that allow Bingbot to discover and index content. For instance, websites have also to allow Bingbot in their robots.txt. So, we didn't want to list all best practices which are listed in Bing Webmaster Tools guidelines.
