Some time ago we made a sports news resource. Naturally, we submitted applications for inclusion in Yandex.News , Google news, and Novotek . Yandex and Novotek reacted immediately, Google proved to be much more interesting. On the conditions for entering Google News, open and not very, as well as a comparison of approaches with Yandex.News later in the topic.

We are all under the hood at Muller

So, there’s a special form for applying to Google News . No contact numbers, email or real addresses for the evil empire of Google, apparently, does not exist in principle. If you found on the network a “secret Google email newsletter” of the form source-suggestions@google.com and wrote directly to it, do not flatter yourself: no one has answered me personally. The entry conditions necessary for execution seem to be indicated here: www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?answer=40787&hl=en - I really liked the "information content".

The filling form has one very remarkable (optional field) “List of authors and publishers on your site” - with this “optional field” there will be a funny story.

After submitting an application in the specified form, you automatically receive a letter of the following content by mail:

Thank you for the information provided. We are working to ensure that you receive answers in your own language, however at the moment we can only answer in English. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

To help us handle a large number of such requests, we ask you to familiarize yourself with the recommendations below and respond to this message if the materials you provide meet our requirements.

Usually in Google News we include materials that: - belong to the content provider;
- are not used by the provider solely for self-promotion;
- prepared and supported by a transparent organization with several writers and editors.

Let us know if your materials meet these requirements. As soon as we receive a response, we’ll be happy to review your site for inclusion in Google News. Although we strive to include as many news content providers as possible, please note that we do not guarantee that your content will be included in Google News. Since our support resources are currently not available in your own language, it may take several weeks or months to process your request.

Meanwhile, we suggest that you also familiarize yourself with our technical requirements.

If you are adding a regular site, check out our technical requirements at the following page:
www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/topic.py?topic=11665 .

If you are adding a mobile site, check out our help resources at www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?answer=148663 .

If you are adding a YouTube channel, check out our help resources at www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?answer=93985 .

Thanks for helping us improve Google News.

Regards,
The Google Team

The situation, why not give this link when filling out the form so that you can immediately get acquainted with the requirements is completely unclear. For example, in Yandex.News, links to requirements are published on a page that describes the connection to the system. They are also duplicated by mail, but only if Yandex is interested in including you in Y. News . In addition, Yandex does not require changing the URL structure of the site ...

I don’t understand anything in sausage scraps, but Google forces me to perform a number of those. requirements even before the moment when they, in principle, give their opinion - will they cooperate or not.

By the way, about those. requirements

We tried to connect a regular site, so we are only talking about the requirements outlined in the first link from a letter from Google.
Comparing requests from Google and Yandex (Yandex requirements are published here ):

• The main requirement of Yandex is RSS 2.0 full-text flow, with its own specifics.
• Google requirements - in addition to the RSS feed, there are a number of requirements for the URL structure of the site - for example:
  • minimum 3-digit unique number in the URL, not like a year - goodbye index - we just decided: url line of the form: ... "100" .id_news
  • a special URL format for forums and comments - especially nice for CMS - it’s recommended to rewrite URL addresses, advise you to do, for example, it was impossible to solve the problem through robots.txt:
    User-agent: Googlebot-News
Disallow: */comments-page-*


Process

So, on April 1 (this is not a joke) they launched the site, filled it with initial news (transferred the most interesting publications from their own newspaper, gave the latest news), started working specifically for the resource, and sent requests to Novoteca around the 10th (by info @ novoteka.ru), Yandex (by mail info@news.yandex.ru) and Google (via the form ):

Yandex Way

The news came almost immediately: the content manager Anastasia K. responded to us: (not given verbatim - the general meaning)

Hello, at the moment, the prospect of your resource is not clear - we suggest that you contact us on this issue again, after, for example, 2 months ...

In principle, a fairly adequate and positive answer. I liked the fact that the person represented by First Name, Surname, clearly explained their position ...
After another 1.5 months, we repeated our request (of course, that the resource worked, interesting materials appeared), and received an affirmative answer:

% Name%, hello
Thank you for your attention to the Yandex.News service
(http://news.yandex.ru/). General information about the affiliate program can be
found on the page news.yandex.ru/cooperation.html
...
The procedure for connecting to Yandex.News can begin immediately after
receiving this letter ...

Further, the requirement to create and report the Yandex account login, a number of excerpts and explanations of the rules of work, some clarifications, reminders of the rules for compiling the RSS feed, and all similar technical requirements.

Novoteka Way

There was a funny correspondence:
Request:

Dear colleagues, as a developer of a sports resource ... covering exclusively sports events ... of the region, I would like to know about the possibility of including our resource in the news aggregation of Novoteka.

Answer:

Hello% Name%.
For cooperation, you need an RSS feed with full texts.
Full news can be in tags, ,
or, as a last resort,.
Sincerely,
Irina G.

Request:

Is a tape of this kind suitable? % Export URL for Yandex%

Answer:

Hello% Name%.
Your RSS feed is connected -% URL%
Regards,
Irina G.

24 hours to connect - bravo! At least in one place on this planet were able to defeat the bureaucracy ...

Google: Oh, roads, dust and fog ...

Colds, anxieties, and steppe weeds:

• The answer to our first request through a special form has not yet arrived (in principle, since April 10, not so much time has passed, huh ...)
• Trying to write directly to the "Google News email" had the same results ("Don't talk!"?)
• The third attempt, through the same ill-fated form, was made on June 26: they filled out, received an email, confirmed compliance with the requirements.

Finally, we waited for an answer (June 29):

Hello% Name%!

Thank you for your message.

We’ve looked at your site, but so far we can’t include it in Google News. Currently, we include articles only from sources that can be classified as news organizations, i.e. sources with several authors and editors, information about the organization and a list of contact phones and / or addresses. After reviewing your site, we could not find information that would characterize you as an organization.

Please note that we also do not include sites that are created and maintained by one person. Thank you for taking the time to write to us. We’ll take a note of your site to review it if our requirements change.

Thanks for your interest in Google News.

Sincerely,
The Google Team

Undoubtedly, any organization has the right to establish its own rules by which they will work - this is their right.

The question is different:

• Why are the requirements that this organization operates on nowhere indicated?
• Why to get an answer you need to batter like a woodpecker on concrete?
• Why is the "List of authors and publishers on your site" field not specified as Required in the Google News entry request form ?
• Why in the request form there are no conditions for indicating Yur. person, secretary dimensions, office address and a list of his constantly living "plankton"?
• Why was it necessary to introduce hidden, nowhere announced terms of cooperation?
• Could Sergey Brin himself begin to collaborate with his current Google at the beginning of the journey?

Conclusion

Everyone draws his own conclusions. My IMHO is this:

1. Yandex and Novotek need partners with operational news, Google - “so that the suit sits”
2. Once again, “knock on Google” is never superfluous
3. You should not expect speed from Google
4. The most recent condition from Google does not happen
5. Good-toned rules (Sign letters like “Last Name-Name” - as they do, for example: Yandex, Microsoft) do not follow Google, limiting themselves to the faceless “Google Team”

UDP: Address of the resource itself

Since the opinion of gigaset88 was supported by a number of votes, I will publish the address of our resource:
Kuban Sport.RU - a resource about professional and amateur sports in the Krasnodar Territory. Included in Yandex.News and Novoteca . We write only about sporting events in the Krasnodar Territory.