Google's "Add URL" Form is Not Available - if anyone cares

[tedster]

Known issue: "Add-URL" form not available [webmaster-forum-announcements.blogspot.com]

I'm amazed that anyone noticed or that Google even intends to maintain the form at all. Why do people use it?

[Samizdata]

Why do people use it?

Because it is there - and because they know no better.

Even Tedster was a newbie once.

...

[tedster]

Because it is there - and because they know no better.

And because someone, somewhere is handing out bogus advice? Newbies don't just dream this stuff up.

-------------

Ah yes. memories from when I was a newbie. There used to be a program called Dumptruck that you loaded up with URLs and it automatically submitted them to a variety of search engines for you. It was a must-have in those pre-Google days.

But now - doesn't it seem like it's almost deceptive to the newbie for any modern search engine to maintain a "Submit" form?

[Spencer]

I think that it's a visible statement of intent. No more SEO control over Google !

[brotherhood of LAN]

Deceptive perhaps but definitely a time-waster.. it may be that they don't want their log files cluttered up with 404's!

Seriously though, for all google does regarding efficiency and being generally environmentally aware, they'd be doing that ethos a favour by taking the page down and saving man hours and processing time from it being a pointless distraction from anything constructive.

[buckworks]

I'm seeing it okay:

[google.com...]

[Robert Charlton]

But now - doesn't it seem like it's almost deceptive to the newbie for any modern search engine to maintain a "Submit" form?

Google's Add URL is fairly up front about it, but only to a point. FWIW, I think they might still be using it to get information....

Share your place on the net with us.

We add and update new sites to our index each time we crawl the web, and we invite you to submit your URL here. We do not add all submitted URLs to our index, and we cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or if they will appear.

Please enter your full URL, including the http:// prefix. For example: http://www.google.com/. You may also add comments or keywords that describe the content of your page. These are used only for our information and do not affect how your page is indexed or used by Google.

Google might be using Add URL to get an indication, eg, of time between submission and backlink addition and discovery. Lots of other unknowns in there, of course, but it's perhaps a few more bits of data for them. It also keeps us busy explaining to newbies the importance of inbound links and the uselessness of submitting. ;)

Possibly also there is some utility... in a way that's analogous to the utility that Site Maps offer. Site Maps aren't a substitute for a well-structured site, but they give Google a perspective on how webmasters see a site and may speed things up in some difficult situations, particularly in the long term....

Google doesn't guarantee that we'll crawl or index all of your URLs. However, we use the data in your Sitemap to learn about your site's structure, which will allow us to improve our crawler schedule and do a better job crawling your site in the future. In most cases, webmasters will benefit from Sitemap submission, and in no case will you be penalized for it.

I don't know how far the analogy goes with regard to Add URL.

[tedster]

I'm seeing it okay:

[google.com...]

Me too - guess the fix is done

[Robert Charlton]

I've been seeing the page OK, but the captcha image hasn't been display... and I do have images enabled... so that would make the feature inaccessible.

[tedster]

keeps us busy explaining to newbies the importance of inbound links

It was a pretty big shift when Google first started using IBLs as a critical ranking factor - a whole new SEO "thing" to wrok with. Up until then it was on-page signals only, for the all the majors. Reverse engineering those early algos was such a cakewalk.

[decaff]

I would think the engines (specifically Google) would use a "submit url" form to simply collect and and track data... doesn't get you into the index (hasn't for many years now)..

[decaff]

hotbot was a blast to rank for...all we needed to was wait for the bot to show up (via an IP) and blam...we could cover all the top 20 or 30 positions (and for 2 months because that was the refresh rate of the hotbot index...)

lycos, altavista also were easy pickens...
then Google showed up with the multiple bot IPs .. and the rest is "theirstory" ...

[Samizdata]

And because someone, somewhere is handing out bogus advice?

When it comes to Google there are always plenty of people doing that.

Newbies don't just dream this stuff up

The "Add URL" form has been a feature of search engines for as long as I can remember.

While it is no longer necessary it may serve to get newbies involved - the form links to other useful webmaster-related information - and divert them away from all those expensive "submit to search engine" scams (yes, they still exist, offering "guaranteed top 10 rotating positions on 200+ engines" etc).

I can forgive newbies for knowing nothing, and I hate to see them ripped off.

...

[tedster]

I just heard from someone that they used Google's "Add URL" to kick-start a revised sitemap that wasn't being crawled.

[CenSin]

Seriously though, for all google does regarding efficiency and being generally environmentally aware, they'd be doing that ethos a favour by taking the page down and saving man hours and processing time from it being a pointless distraction from anything constructive.

I doubt goog still concern about eco green, those instant search surely burn lots of cpu processing at their backend.

But one page serp surely green enough. ;)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Because it is there - and because they know no better.

Or perhaps because they have no inbounds to their website and this is the only way that google can find it?

[Samizdata]

perhaps because they have no inbounds to their website and this is the only way that google can find it?

Googlebot does not require inbound links to find a registered domain.

Various bots will start sniffing around as soon as the DNS resolves.

The Add URL form is generally irrelevant but doubtless still has some uses.

...

[steveb]

Why ping new pages? Because it works, as does the Add URL page.

Strange thread.

[abrodski]

< moved from another location >

Hello!
I've never had anything like that before. Very strange! I want to submit my new site to Google.
So I go to:

http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
[google.com...]

There I have 3 empty boxes. First is for the URL, second is for comments, the third one is for capture against bots. And that's supposedly even OPTIONAL.

Obviously I have images enabled in my browser. BUT...What I read there is this:
To help us distinguish between sites submitted by individuals and those automatically entered by software robots, please type the squiggly letters shown here into the box below.

And then the text (which is actually an image) that says that my images are not enables, but its OK, I can just leave the box blank. Then I hit Add URL button below and get Not Found ERROR!

Not Found
The requested URL /addurl/Captcha?q=http://www.mysitename.com/&dq=&continue=/addurl&id=14337178947900588226&hl=&captcha=&submit=Add+URL was not found on this server.

Was ist das? New joke from Google or what?

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 10:58 pm (utc) on Oct 4, 2010]

[Robert Charlton]

Hi abrodski - As noted earlier in this thread, I also wasn't seeing the captcha image displayed, and I'm still not. And, as you note, the alt text to the captcha does suggest the captcha is optional....

If you can read this, you do not have images enabled.
No problem; just leave the textbox below empty.

Anyway, they are still having problems. Until they fix it, I feel that they should at least post an "out of order" sign.

In general, I'd give Google very low marks for the behind-the-scenes part of its site. Links are frequently broken, eg, and amazingly, Google provides no way to contact a webmaster to report a problem. Very bad example for the rest of us.

[Samizdata]

I want to submit my new site to Google

I agree with Robert that Google deserves low marks for the current state of affairs.

But have you checked your log files for bot activity?

If Google and other major search engines have not yet found your new site by other means you could add a link to it somewhere (your WebmasterWorld profile perhaps) or consider opening a Google Webmaster Tools account (though some members here prefer not to).

As Tedster's original post suggests, using the Add URL form is generally unnecessary.

And while I would normally agree with steveb that "it works", right now it obviously doesn't.

...

[abrodski]

I kinda found a solution...here
[google.co.uk...]
It did the trick...Its probably as good as a .com Google, since after the submission I got the confirmation from a .com Google.
Also I found a note from Google here
[google.com...]
I wonder though if I should re-submit my new site in format without www. as a prefix or it doesn't matter?

[tedster]

With or without the "www" does matter - see this discussion: Why Does Google Treat "www" & "no-www" As Different? [webmasterworld.com]

[abrodski]

British Google is the same now...But I think, its a local browser issue, 'cos in Safari everything works fine. Had a similar Joomla issue today. Joomla won't load images from a server into articles, but in Safari everything was great. And in FF I got nothing and then small broken images icons...