Google has stripped the Indexing API's default quota of 200 submissions and deleted the quota-approval form from its official documentation, updating three separate pages while announcing only one of the changes.

The confirmed statement came from Google itself. The company said it "Updated the Indexing API quota page to reflect the current quota limits and process," and did so to "document the current quota limits for the Indexing API and remove an outdated form." That is the extent of the official record. The other two page changes carry no Google statement at all. What the removals mean in practice is inference from the diffs, not confirmed policy.

What did Google actually confirm?

Only the quota-page update. Google framed it as housekeeping: align documentation with current limits, remove an obsolete form. The company did not publish new quota numbers. It did not say whether approvals continue through another channel. It did not explain who can now use the API or at what volume.

The removal of documented limits suggests the old default quota no longer applies in its published form. That is a reading of the diff. Google has not stated it.

Takeaway: Google confirmed a documentation change, not a policy change, and the gap between the two is where speculation begins.

What was removed from the quota page?

Three passages disappeared. Each one carried operational weight for developers:

• "The Indexing API provides initial default quota for testing, and it requires additional approval for usage and resource provisioning."
• "Initial default quota: The Indexing API provides the following default quota for initial API onboarding and testing submissions."
• "Request quota and approval: The Indexing API can only be used to crawl pages with either JobPosting or BroadcastEvent embedded in a VideoObject. To request quota beyond the initial default quota and gain approval to use the API for pages with JobPosting or BroadcastEvent markup, fill out this form. You'll need to know the details of your project in the Google Cloud console. The quota may increase or decrease based on the document quality."

The form is gone. The approval pathway documented on that page is gone with it. Google has not named a replacement.

Takeaway: the documented route to request more quota no longer exists on the page that defined it.

What changed on the quickstart page?

Google deleted an entire section recommending the Indexing API over sitemaps. The removed text read: "Sitemaps and the Indexing API: For websites with many short-lived pages like job postings or livestream videos, we recommend using the Indexing API instead of sitemaps because the Indexing API prompts Googlebot to crawl your pages sooner than updating the sitemap. However, we still recommend submitting a sitemap for coverage of your entire site."

That recommendation carried weight for job boards and livestream publishers, the two verticals the API explicitly served. Its removal does not confirm the API works less well than sitemaps. It does mean Google no longer states a preference on that page.

The quickstart page also lost the explicit "default 200 quota" figure tied to onboarding and submission testing.

Takeaway: the strongest published guidance telling short-lived-content sites to prefer the API over sitemaps is now gone.

Does the JobPosting and BroadcastEvent restriction still stand?

Probably. The documentation removed references to the JobPosting and livestream restriction on some pages, but the restriction remains on the main page. The likeliest reading is that the scope rule survives while the quota mechanics changed. That is an interpretation. Google has not addressed it.

Job boards and broadcast publishers should treat the main page as the controlling document until Google says otherwise. Caveat: silent edits of this kind have preceded both policy changes and nothing at all. The diffs prove removal, not intent.

Takeaway: the scope restriction appears intact on the main page even as other pages dropped it.

What should developers watch next?

Watch the main Indexing API page for scope language, watch the Google Cloud console for live quota values, and watch for any statement replacing the deleted approval form. If Google intended a real quota policy shift, a statement or Search Central blog post should follow. None exists at publication time.