Job Boards Report Months of Silence on Google Indexing API Approval Requests

Job board operators say they have been waiting months for Google to respond to their requests for approval to use the Indexing API beyond its default testing quota, with some reporting no acknowledgment at all. The issue drew renewed attention on September 19, 2026, when SEO consultant Nick LeRoy raised it in a thread on X.

LeRoy, who operates SEOJobs.com and PPCJobs.com, said neither of his job boards has been approved or given a quota increase. Writing in the September 19 thread, LeRoy and job board consultant Alexander Chukovski said they have "100+ job boards as data points" and "hypothesize that Google hasn't approved any submissions in 2026." LeRoy has been explicit about the limits of that claim, noting in a July newsletter entry: "Can I confirm the number is zero? No."

In that same July newsletter, LeRoy described submitting requests for both of his sites six months prior and receiving no response. He wrote: "Not an approval. Not a rejection. Not a request for more information," before adding the caveat about being unable to confirm the number is zero.

Chukovski, who sells SEO consulting services to job boards, wrote in July that he had "visibility over at least 50 different applications" since October 2025 and that none had gone through, while acknowledging he has no inside information.

Reports from Google's Search Central Community corroborate the pattern. On May 22, a job board operator said they had submitted the form multiple times over the past six to nine months without any response. A post from September 8 described the same situation. On September 2, an operator said they had not received any acknowledgment, reference number, or visible status on their request. A Belgian job board reported on September 10 that a request submitted on August 21 had still received no approval or rejection.

What Google's Documentation Says

Google's job posting structured data guide recommends the API directly, stating: "For job posting URLs, we recommend using the Indexing API instead of sitemaps because the Indexing API prompts Googlebot to crawl your page sooner." The guide does not mention the approval requirement.

The Indexing API quickstart does address it, noting the API "provides a default 200 quota for API onboarding and submission testing, and it requires additional approval for usage and resource provisioning." Google updated that language on September 4, 2024, to better clarify that the default quota is for initial setup and testing. The quota page states only that "quota may increase or decrease based on the document quality," and no documentation describes how to check whether a request is pending, approved, or rejected.

Google's Response

Google's John Mueller responded in May after LeRoy raised stalled requests on Bluesky, writing: "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." Mueller did not describe the review process.

Search Engine Journal asked Google whether job site requests are being reviewed, typical review timelines, how applicants can check status, and whether publish requests are handled differently before approval. Google had not responded as of the time of publication.

The HTTP 200/404 Pattern

Several operators have also reported a confusing technical signal: a publish request to the API returns an HTTP 200 response, but a follow-up call to the getMetadata endpoint for the same URL returns a 404. Google's Indexing API usage page defines an HTTP 200 response as meaning only that "Google may try to recrawl this URL soon." The 404 pattern was noted by forum posters on September 2 and September 10, by the Belgian job board across two different setups, and by LeRoy in July.

A Google Diamond Product Expert — a volunteer role, not an official Google staff position — told the September 10 poster that the 404 was a strong sign the project had not been approved, and that the initial 200 response can be useful for testing a setup. That assessment is not an official Google statement.

Why It Matters

Google's job posting guide actively directs site owners toward the Indexing API as a faster alternative to sitemaps, yet the API's own documentation requires additional approval for use beyond testing. Operators who have applied report waiting months with no feedback, leaving them unable to determine whether they are in a slow review queue or have been silently rejected. The guide continues to recommend sitemap submission for full site coverage as well.