Sitemap XML vs TXT

Understanding concepts and tests behing Sitemaps XML and Sitemaps TXT

[buguela]

I was discussing with some SEO folks the concepts and tests behind Sitemaps.XML and Sitemaps.TXT.

What we want to ask is has anyone tested the effectiveness of Sitemap.TXT vs. Sitemap.XML in terms of indexing and ranking gains of XML?

I read some folks saying that TXT are better for Yahoo! and XML are better for Google. Is anyone seeing this?

[goodroi]

Based on my personal experience, I have not seen any direct correlation with any sitemap and improved rankings. I have seen some improvements in indexing. I have not seen significant differences bewteen txt or xml benefits. I do prefer xml since it allows me to input more data.

[spiritparse]

Look at the content of the two files. Both Google and Yahoo can handle text and XML. If your XML sitemap file only contains URLs, then it really only contains the same data as a text file listing all URLs. Thus there should be absolutely no difference :)

You might want to check this article for more explanation and examples:
[microsystools.com...]