Google updates Indexing API quota docs, drops request form

Google’s Search documentation changelog records that the Indexing API quota page was updated on 16 October 2026 to reflect current quota limits and process. Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz compared the pages and found the edit reached more than the one page Google named.

Here are Google’s changelog entry and Schwartz’s comparison.

What did Google change?#

Google’s changelog entry names only the quota page, and says it now reflects the current quota limits and process. The entry gives no further detail, and Google has not said why the wording changed.

Which pages were edited?#

Per Schwartz, three Indexing API v3 pages changed. The quota and pricing page lost its default quota details, including the language about requesting more quota through an approval form. The quickstart lost a section that recommended the API over sitemaps for short-lived pages, and its mention of a default 200 quota for onboarding and testing. The using-the-API page lost its references to a default testing quota.

Does the API still have limits?#

The quota and pricing page we read listed 200 publish requests per day for a project, 180 metadata requests per minute and 380 requests per minute across endpoints, with new quota taking up to 24 hours to apply. It described no process for raising quota and said the API is free. That conflicts with Schwartz’s report that default details were removed, so the cached or live page may differ from what we saw. Check your own project in the Google API Console.

Who can still use it?#

The restriction to pages with JobPosting or BroadcastEvent markup appears to remain, per Schwartz. Developers he cites report mixed results: one says new service accounts still get a default quota of 200, another saw a 404 from a metadata request despite a 200 on submission. He suggests the documentation and the code may be out of sync.

What should you do?#

Nothing urgent follows from the change itself. If you rely on the API for job or livestream pages, confirm your project’s quota in the console rather than from the docs, and keep a sitemap for the rest of the site. Our indexing and technical SEO hubs cover how Google discovers pages, and the IndexNow story covers the alternative that Google does not use.