Google introduces the ‘search live coverage carousel’ for real-time indexing & search results

Google published on the developer site information about the search live coverage carousel, which lets publishers feed Google breaking content in real time that is related to live sports, elections and breaking news.

This does seem directly related to the real-time indexing API announcement made at Google I/O in May by Richard Gingras.

This “search live coverage carousel” is a “pilot” that Google is opening up to select publishers. Publishers can apply by filling out this form over here. It allows Google to “surface content more quickly than is currently possible with a standard crawl on your website.” Google said content that makes sense for this live coverage carousel includes “live sports, elections, and breaking news” and “can include live blogs, full length articles, videos and more.”

Here is a screen shot of what this new search live coverage carousel looks like:

To participate in this pilot, you do need to use AMP HTML, the structured content markup, and supply an Atom-based feed. Here are the more detailed requirements:

• Content must be published using Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): By publishing your content with AMP, you’ll enable your pages to be loaded nearly instantly to users’ devices. Read about how to Use AMP HTML in the AMP public developer docs.
• Your AMP pages must include structured data markup for the content itself: Structured data markup enables the preview for your live coverage article on the Search page and also helps Google better understand the context around a piece of content. Find out more in the Introduction to Structured Data.
• Content must be pushed to Google using an Atom XML feed: When you send your content to Google, you should use an an HTTP POST request in an Atom XML feed that contains your AMP page content as soon as it is published on the web. This allows Google to more quickly index your content.

We asked Google if this is related to the real-time indexing API announced at I/O. We believe so, but we are trying to get official confirmation. When we hear back, we will update this story.

Hat tip to Aaron Bradley who spotted this first.

Postscript: Google has confirmed that the Atom XML feed portion of this feature is what they were referring to with the real-time indexing API mentioned at Google I/O.