A Google News sitemap helps Google discover and index your news content quickly—often within minutes of publication. For publishers producing time-sensitive content, this speed matters. Breaking news, market updates, and event coverage lose value rapidly, and a properly configured news sitemap ensures Google finds your articles before they become stale.
What Is a Google News Sitemap?
A Google News sitemap is a specialized XML sitemap designed specifically for news content. It follows the standard sitemap protocol but includes additional tags from the Google News namespace that provide publication metadata.
Unlike regular sitemaps that help Google discover your entire site over time, news sitemaps focus on recent articles—content published within the last 48 hours. Google processes news sitemaps more frequently than standard sitemaps, prioritizing fresh content for Google News and the "Top Stories" section of search results.
Here's what a basic Google News sitemap looks like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/2025/01/breaking-news-story/</loc>
<news:news>
<news:publication>
<news:name>Example Times</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>
<news:publication_date>2025-01-25T14:30:00+00:00</news:publication_date>
<news:title>Breaking News Story Headline</news:title>
</news:news>
</url>
</urlset>Who Should Use a Google News Sitemap?
Google News sitemaps benefit publishers who produce timely, original reporting. You should consider implementing one if you:
Publish news content regularly — At least several articles per week covering current events, breaking news, or time-sensitive topics.
Are approved for Google News — While Google News inclusion is now largely automatic for quality publishers, having a news sitemap helps Google identify and prioritize your news content specifically.
Need fast indexing — If your content's value depends on being discovered quickly (financial news, sports scores, political developments), a news sitemap accelerates discovery.
Compete in Top Stories — The "Top Stories" carousel in Google Search pulls from Google News. A news sitemap signals which content should be considered for this placement.
Who Doesn't Need a News Sitemap
Not every site benefits from a news sitemap:
Blogs with evergreen content — If your articles remain relevant for months or years, a standard sitemap works fine. News sitemaps are for content with a 48-hour shelf life.
Non-news publishers — E-commerce sites, service businesses, and documentation sites should use regular sitemaps.
Low-volume publishers — If you publish once a week or less, Google will likely find your content through normal crawling and your standard sitemap.
Content aggregators — Google News prioritizes original reporting. Aggregated or syndicated content typically won't benefit from a news sitemap.
Google News Sitemap Requirements
Before creating your sitemap, understand Google's requirements:
Content Requirements
- Articles must be original news content
- Content must be published within the last 48 hours to be included
- Each article needs a unique, permanent URL
- Content should follow Google News content policies
Technical Requirements
- Maximum 1,000 URLs per news sitemap
- File must be valid XML with proper encoding (UTF-8)
- Sitemap must be accessible to Googlebot
- URLs must be from the same domain as the sitemap
What to Exclude
Don't include these in your news sitemap:
- Articles older than 48 hours
- Index pages, category pages, or tag archives
- Syndicated or republished content
- Press releases (unless substantially rewritten)
- Opinion pieces without clear labeling
- Paywalled content that Googlebot can't access
Google News Sitemap Structure Explained
Let's break down each element of a news sitemap.
Root Element and Namespaces
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">The urlset element includes two namespace declarations:
- The standard sitemap namespace
- The Google News namespace that enables news-specific tags
The URL Container
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/article-url/</loc>
<news:news>
<!-- News-specific metadata -->
</news:news>
</url>Each article gets a <url> block containing the standard <loc> tag plus a <news:news> container for news metadata.
Required News Elements
publication
<news:publication>
<news:name>Example Times</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>news:name — Your publication's name exactly as it appears in Google News. This must match your registered publication name.
news:language — The article's language as an ISO 639-1 code (e.g., en for English, es for Spanish, zh-cn for Simplified Chinese).
publication_date
<news:publication_date>2025-01-25T14:30:00+00:00</news:publication_date>The date and time the article was first published. Use W3C datetime format. Include the timezone offset for accuracy. Acceptable formats:
- Complete date with time:
2025-01-25T14:30:00+00:00 - Complete date with time (UTC):
2025-01-25T14:30:00Z - Date only:
2025-01-25
The full timestamp with timezone is preferred—it helps Google understand exactly when your article was published relative to competing coverage.
title
<news:title>Breaking News Story Headline</news:title>The article's headline. This should match the <title> tag or <h1> on the actual page. Don't stuff keywords—use your actual headline.
Complete News Sitemap Example
Here's a full example with multiple articles:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/2025/01/25/federal-reserve-rate-decision/</loc>
<news:news>
<news:publication>
<news:name>Example Financial Times</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>
<news:publication_date>2025-01-25T15:45:00-05:00</news:publication_date>
<news:title>Federal Reserve Holds Rates Steady Amid Economic Uncertainty</news:title>
</news:news>
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/2025/01/25/tech-earnings-preview/</loc>
<news:news>
<news:publication>
<news:name>Example Financial Times</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>
<news:publication_date>2025-01-25T09:00:00-05:00</news:publication_date>
<news:title>Big Tech Earnings Week: What Analysts Expect</news:title>
</news:news>
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/2025/01/24/market-recap-january-24/</loc>
<news:news>
<news:publication>
<news:name>Example Financial Times</news:name>
<news:language>en</news:language>
</news:publication>
<news:publication_date>2025-01-24T16:30:00-05:00</news:publication_date>
<news:title>Markets Close Higher on Strong Earnings Reports</news:title>
</news:news>
</url>
</urlset>Creating a News Sitemap by Platform
WordPress
Yoast SEO Premium includes news sitemap functionality through its News SEO add-on:
- Install and activate Yoast News SEO
- Go to SEO → News SEO in your dashboard
- Enter your publication name as it appears in Google News
- Select which post types should be included
- Your news sitemap appears at
/news-sitemap.xml
Rank Math Pro includes news sitemap support:
- Go to Rank Math → Sitemap Settings → News Sitemap
- Enable the news sitemap
- Configure your publication name and included post types
- Access your sitemap at
/news_sitemap.xml
Manual/Custom Implementation: Create a custom template or plugin that queries recent posts and outputs the XML format. Here's a basic approach using a custom PHP file:
Drupal
The Simple XML Sitemap module supports news sitemaps:
- Install and enable Simple XML Sitemap
- Go to Configuration → Search and metadata → Simple XML Sitemap
- Under Sitemap variants, add a new variant with type "Google News"
- Configure your publication name and select content types
- Generate the sitemap
Custom CMS / Static Sites
For custom implementations, build a script that:
- Queries your database for articles published within 48 hours
- Formats the output as valid XML with the news namespace
- Saves or serves the file at a consistent URL
- Regenerates automatically when new articles publish
Example Python script:
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
def generate_news_sitemap(articles):
urlset = ET.Element('urlset')
urlset.set('xmlns', 'http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9')
urlset.set('xmlns:news', 'http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9')
cutoff = datetime.now() - timedelta(hours=48)
for article in articles:
if article['published'] < cutoff:
continue
url = ET.SubElement(urlset, 'url')
loc = ET.SubElement(url, 'loc')
loc.text = article['url']
news = ET.SubElement(url, 'news:news')
pub = ET.SubElement(news, 'news:publication')
name = ET.SubElement(pub, 'news:name')
name.text = 'Your Publication Name'
lang = ET.SubElement(pub, 'news:language')
lang.text = 'en'
pub_date = ET.SubElement(news, 'news:publication_date')
pub_date.text = article['published'].isoformat()
title = ET.SubElement(news, 'news:title')
title.text = article['title']
return ET.tostring(urlset, encoding='unicode', xml_declaration=True)Submitting Your News Sitemap
Add to Robots.txt
Reference your news sitemap in robots.txt:
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://example.com/news-sitemap.xmlSubmit to Google Search Console
- Open Google Search Console for your property
- Navigate to Sitemaps in the left menu
- Enter your news sitemap URL (e.g.,
news-sitemap.xml) - Click Submit
Google will begin processing immediately. Check back in a few hours to see discovery and indexing status.
Monitor in Publisher Center
If you're registered in Google Publisher Center, you can monitor your news content performance and any issues Google encounters with your news sitemap.
News Sitemap Best Practices
Update Frequently
Regenerate your news sitemap whenever you publish new articles. For high-volume publishers, update every 15-30 minutes. Google checks news sitemaps more frequently than standard sitemaps, so keep yours current.
Remove Old Articles Automatically
Articles older than 48 hours should drop out of your news sitemap automatically. They won't cause errors if left in, but keeping your sitemap clean helps Google process it faster.
Use Accurate Publication Dates
The publication_date should reflect when the article first went live—not when it was updated or when the sitemap was generated. Backdating or forward-dating articles violates Google's guidelines and can result in removal from Google News.
Match Headlines Exactly
The news:title should match your actual article headline. Don't use this field for SEO keyword stuffing—Google cross-references this with your page content.
Keep Your Publication Name Consistent
Use the exact same news:name for every article. This should match your publication name in Google Publisher Center if you're registered there.
Validate Before Submitting
Test your sitemap for XML validity before submission. Common issues include:
- Missing closing tags
- Unescaped special characters (& must be
&) - Invalid date formats
- Missing required elements
Use an XML validator or Google Search Console's sitemap testing to catch errors.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Articles Not Appearing in Google News
- Verify the article URL is accessible to Googlebot
- Check that publication_date is within the last 48 hours
- Confirm your site follows Google News content policies
- Ensure the article has substantial original content
Sitemap Errors in Search Console
"URL not found (404)" — The article URL in your sitemap doesn't resolve. Check for typos or ensure the article is actually published.
"Invalid date" — Your publication_date format is wrong. Use ISO 8601 format with timezone.
"Publication name mismatch" — The news:name doesn't match your Google News registration. Update to match exactly.
Slow Indexing Despite News Sitemap
- Verify Google can access your sitemap (not blocked by robots.txt)
- Check crawl stats in Search Console for errors
- Ensure your server responds quickly—slow sites get deprioritized
- Confirm you're updating the sitemap when articles publish, not on a delayed schedule
Duplicate Content Warnings
If Google reports duplicate content issues:
- Ensure each article has a unique URL
- Don't include the same article at multiple URLs
- Use canonical tags on your articles pointing to the preferred URL
- Remove syndicated content from your news sitemap
News Sitemap vs. Standard Sitemap
You should maintain both:
Your standard sitemap handles your full site architecture. Your news sitemap accelerates discovery of time-sensitive content. They complement each other—don't replace your standard sitemap with a news sitemap.