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Freedom251 › Blog › Google Cloud

Google Indexing API Quota: 200 Daily Requests, Rate Limits and What a 200 Response Means

By Freedom251 Team · · 5 min read

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Google’s current Indexing API allowance is 200 publish requests per Google Cloud project per day. That total includes both URL_UPDATED and URL_DELETED notifications. Separate limits allow 180 metadata requests per minute and 380 requests per minute across all Indexing API endpoints. The API is free, but it is not a general-purpose way to force ordinary pages into Google Search.

Current Google Indexing API quotas

Google documents these limits per project:

Quota Current limit What it covers
Publish requests 200 per day URL_UPDATED and URL_DELETED notifications combined
Metadata requests 180 per minute Calls that retrieve notification metadata
All endpoints 380 per minute Total request rate across the Indexing API project

The daily publish quota resets at midnight Pacific Time. If Google changes a quota after you request an adjustment, the new value can take up to 24 hours to take effect. Google does not charge for Indexing API use.

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What content is eligible

The documented service is limited to pages containing JobPosting structured data or BroadcastEvent structured data embedded in a VideoObject. That means a normal article, product page, home page or blog post is outside the API’s stated eligibility, even if its owner wants faster crawling.

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Using the endpoint for ineligible URLs does not turn the notification into an indexing request. For ordinary editorial content, maintain accurate XML sitemaps and use normal Search Console workflows instead.

How the API works

The REST service is exposed at indexing.googleapis.com/v3/urlNotifications. A publish call is sent to POST /v3/urlNotifications:publish with one URL and one notification type:

  • URL_UPDATED tells Google that an eligible URL has changed or is available.
  • URL_DELETED tells Google that an eligible URL has been removed.

GET /v3/urlNotifications/metadata returns the latest notification metadata Google has recorded for a URL. Requests must use Content-Type: application/json. Google allows batches of up to 100 calls, but each notification still counts against the applicable quotas.

Why HTTP 200 is not an indexing guarantee

A successful HTTP 200 response confirms that Google received the notification. It means Google may try to recrawl the URL soon; it does not confirm that the page was crawled, indexed, displayed in Search, or removed from Search.

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The metadata endpoint reports when Google received notifications. It does not report the final indexing decision. A page can therefore have a successful notification and still be excluded because of quality signals, technical problems, duplication, access restrictions, spam systems or other Search eligibility decisions.

Required setup

A reliable implementation requires more than an API key. Follow this sequence:

  1. Enable the Indexing API. In Google Cloud, select the project that will own the requests and enable the Indexing API.
  2. Create a service account. Generate the service account credentials and obtain an OAuth access token for authenticated requests.
  3. Verify site ownership. Verify the relevant property in Google Search Console and grant the service account the access it needs.
  4. Request approval and quota where required. Google requires approval and quota arrangements for use beyond onboarding or testing defaults. Follow the current Google documentation for the project’s status.
  5. Send valid JSON. Set the content type to application/json, send one URL per publish call, and choose only URL_UPDATED or URL_DELETED.

Keep credentials out of client-side code, rotate them according to your security policy, and log response codes and quota errors so a failed notification is not mistaken for a Search result.

Indexing API, sitemaps and URL Inspection compared

Method Eligible content Workflow Quota scope documented by Google Authentication and batching What success means
Indexing API JobPosting and BroadcastEvent-in-VideoObject pages Push a notification when a URL changes or is deleted 200 publish requests per project per day, plus per-minute limits Cloud project, service account and OAuth; batches up to 100 calls Google received the notification; no indexing guarantee
XML sitemap Broadly applicable to crawlable site URLs Google discovers URLs from a submitted or referenced sitemap Not the Indexing API quota Site configuration rather than per-request service-account authentication Google can discover URLs; no indexing guarantee
Search Console URL Inspection URLs in a verified Search Console property Inspect a URL on demand; workflow is pull-based 2,000 requests per day and 600 per minute per site; project limits are 10,000,000 per day and 15,000 per minute Search Console property access and API authentication Inspection data and reported status, not a promise of indexing

Google lists the Search Console URL Inspection limits separately from Indexing API quotas. The URL Inspection limits page was last updated on August 28, 2025 (UTC), so do not combine those numbers with the 200-per-day publish allowance.

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Staying within the limits

  • Count URL_UPDATED and URL_DELETED together when planning the 200 daily publish requests.
  • Throttle metadata calls below 180 per minute and keep total endpoint traffic below 380 requests per minute.
  • Queue changes and prioritize genuinely updated or removed eligible pages rather than resending unchanged URLs.
  • Use exponential backoff for transient errors, while treating authentication, permission and eligibility errors as configuration problems that need correction.
  • Do not create multiple accounts or projects to evade quotas. Google warns that bypassing limits can result in access being revoked.

Common mistakes and fixes

Sending ordinary pages

Symptom: notifications succeed but there is no Search visibility. Fix: confirm the URL contains one of the documented eligible structured-data types, and use sitemaps for other content.

Interpreting 200 as indexed

Symptom: your system marks a URL “indexed” immediately after publishing. Fix: record the response as “notification accepted” and verify Search status separately.

Exhausting the daily allowance

Symptom: later updates fail after a burst of changes. Fix: include deletions in the same budget, queue non-urgent notifications, and wait for the Pacific Time reset.

Confusing URL Inspection and Indexing API quotas

Symptom: an application appears to have millions of requests available but receives Indexing API quota errors. Fix: identify whether the call is a project-level Indexing API publish or a Search Console URL Inspection request; they use different limits and scopes.

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What changed in practical terms

The important clarification is not a new promise of instant indexing. Google’s current limits define a 200-per-project daily publish budget, explicit per-minute ceilings and a strict content-eligibility boundary. The API is a notification channel for supported job and livestream-event pages, while crawling and indexing remain separate Google decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Indexing API requests can I send per day?

You can send 200 publish requests per Google Cloud project per day, counting URL_UPDATED and URL_DELETED together. The quota resets at midnight Pacific Time.

Does a 200 response mean Google indexed my URL?

No. It confirms receipt of the notification. Google may recrawl the URL, but the response does not confirm crawling, indexing, ranking or removal.

Can I use the Indexing API for any page?

No. Google documents eligibility for JobPosting pages and pages containing BroadcastEvent in a VideoObject. Ordinary editorial pages are not covered.

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Are Search Console URL Inspection limits the same as Indexing API limits?

No. URL Inspection has separate site and project quotas, including 2,000 requests per day and 600 per minute per site under Google’s listed limits.

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