What Google's Documentation Says

Google's job posting structured data guide tells site owners to use the Indexing API. It reads:

"For job posting URLs, we recommend using the Indexing API instead of sitemaps because the Indexing API prompts Googlebot to crawl your page sooner."

That page doesn't mention approval. The Indexing API quickstart does. It says the API "provides a default 200 quota for API onboarding and submission testing, and it requires additional approval for usage and resource provisioning."

Google clarified this language on Sept. 4, 2024, with the documentation changelog citing a need "to better explain that the default quota is for initial setup and testing." A week later, on Sept. 11, 2024, Google added a spam warning to the quickstart.

Site owners request approval through a Google Form linked from the quota page. On how requests are judged, that page says only that the "quota may increase or decrease based on the document quality."

The quickstart, quota, and usage pages offer no way to check whether a request is pending, approved, or rejected. The quota page points to the Google API Console, which shows a project's current quota.

What Google Has Said

Google's John Mueller responded in May after LeRoy raised his stalled requests on Bluesky. Mueller replied:

"I'm not aware of any particular issues, but I know the indexing API is inundated by bloggers trying to act like legitimate sites, so I imagine they're just a bit more cautious nowadays."

The reply did not describe the review process.

Search Engine Journal asked Google whether job site requests are being reviewed, how long the review process usually takes, whether applicants can check request status, and whether publish requests are handled differently before approval. Google had not responded by publication time.

HTTP 200 Responses Raise More Questions

Google's Indexing API usage page defines an HTTP 200 response narrowly: it "means that Google may try to recrawl this URL soon."

Several operators report that a publish request returns HTTP 200, but a follow-up call for the same URL to the getMetadata endpoint returns 404. According to Google, that endpoint shows the last time it received a notification for a URL. The forum posters from Sept. 2 and Sept. 10 both noticed the same pattern, and the Belgian site observed it through two different setups. LeRoy shared similar findings in July.

The usage page doesn't clarify whether requests sent before approval are treated differently. Google's errors page offers a generic description of 404 errors and doesn't link them to approval status.

A Google Diamond Product Expert told the Sept. 10 poster that the 404 was a strong sign the project hasn't been approved, and that the first 200 response can help test a setup. Product Experts are volunteers, not Google staff, so their insights are not official company statements.

Why This Matters

Google's job posting guide recommends the Indexing API as a faster alternative to sitemaps, while the API's documentation says usage beyond testing requires additional approval. Operators who requested access report months of silence, leaving them unable to tell whether they sit in a slow queue or have already been rejected. The guide still recommends submitting a sitemap for full site coverage.

Short of a statement from Google, any change to the approval process would most likely surface first on the Indexing API quota page or in Google's documentation changelog, where the 2024 clarification was logged.