Microsoft Bing announced some interesting updates for IndexNow including how it works now with product schema and that Shopify now supports it and soon Amazon will. This will help Bing and search engines that use IndexNow have more accurate and up-to-date products for their shopping results and shopping ads.
"With real-time indexing and structured data support, it gives your content a faster path to visibility across web search, shopping, and supported ad experiences—all from one powerful signal. And by implementing IndexNow with the schema below, you can skip the need for a separate merchant feed, streamlining how your updates get discovered," Microsoft wrote.
All you need to do is have a shopping platform or CMS, like Shopify, that does both IndexNow and has product schema. "When paired with IndexNow, structured data plays a vital role. IndexNow tells search engines that something has changed, while structured data tells them what has changed. Together, they improve both speed and accuracy in indexing," Microsoft explained.
Here are the recommended fields to include with your product schema:
- title (name in JSON-LD)
- Description
- Price (list/retail price)
- Link (product landing page URL)
- Image link (image in JSON-LD)
- Shipping (especially important for Germany and Austria)
- ID (a unique identifier for the product)
- Brand
- gtin
- mpn
- datePublished
- dateModified
And optional fields include:
- Category (helps group products for search and shopping platforms)
- Seller (recommended for marketplaces or resellers)
- itemCondition (e.g., NewCondition, UsedCondition)
Now, Shopfiy already does this and Amazon will soon support it, I think in June. Microsoft wrote, "Amazon plans to begin adopting IndexNow in mid-June, enabling its systems to more efficiently detect changes across the web—helping reduce unnecessary crawling and keeping its infrastructure aligned with the most current content available."
"As one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, Shopify empowers millions of merchants to build and grow their businesses online. With IndexNow, Shopify store owners can now get their products, promotions, and updates seen faster by search engines — helping them reach customers at the speed of commerce," is the bit on Shopify.
If you don't use a CMS or platform that supports it, then add IndexNow yourself and make sure to have product schema.
Forum discussion at X.
