Is it true that Google has disabled the indexing request feature in Search Console?

How does this disablement affect the daily life of an SEO?

The manual indexing request had become a reflex for thousands of practitioners. New product page, urgent fix on a strategic URL, site migration: one would click on 'Request Indexing' and hope for expedited processing by Googlebot.

Except that this feature has just disappeared, without warning or guaranteed return date. Google talks of a strengthening infrastructure, but remains vague about the duration. For an SEO managing an e-commerce site with thousands of references or a news media, the impact is immediate: no more safety net to push for indexing.

Does this outage reveal a structural fragility in the tool?

That's a legitimate question. If Google has to disable a feature to 'make it more robust,' it means it wasn't designed to handle the load. Translation: millions of sites were heavily using this tool, perhaps beyond what Google anticipated.

The other hypothesis is that the infrastructure behind the priority indexing requests was conflicting with the native crawl algorithms. Google has always stated that this feature guaranteed nothing — just 'consideration.' If the system was overloaded or poorly optimized, it may have generated more noise than added value.

Should we expect the tool to return unchanged?

Nothing is less certain. When Google says 'working on the infrastructure,' it might mean a return with limitations: reduced quotas, waiting times between requests, stricter algorithmic prioritization. The days of submitting 20 URLs per day may well be over.

It's also possible that Google will use this opportunity to completely revise the logic of the tool. For example, by reserving indexing requests for sites deemed 'trustworthy' based on E-E-A-T criteria or conditioning access to a quality history. In short, the tool may return transformed, with different rules of the game.

• Indexing request disabled without prior notice or a specific recovery timeline
• Direct impact on emergency indexing management for high-volume sites
• Risk of return with stricter quotas or restrictions than before
• The current infrastructure seems undersized for the actual use of SEOs
• No official alternative proposed by Google to compensate for this outage

Is this statement consistent with Google's strategy?

Yes and no. Google has always downplayed the real impact of the indexing request, repeating that it guaranteed nothing and that natural crawl remained a priority. Disabling the tool confirms this stance: Google wants to regain total control over indexing priorities without letting SEOs force the issue.

But the disablement without prior communication is a problem. SEO teams managing product launches, migrations, or urgent fixes find themselves in the dark. Google is well aware that this feature had become a critical operational tool for thousands of sites — cutting it off overnight without alternatives shows a disconnect between official discourse and ground reality.

What nuances must we consider about this 'more robust' infrastructure?

The expression is purposefully vague. [To be confirmed]: Google does not specify whether the problem arises from a massive inflow of requests, algorithmic inefficiencies, or a broader rework of indexing. We can speculate, but there is a lack of facts.

What is certain is that the indexing request has never been a magic lever. Internal tests show that its effectiveness varied greatly depending on the perceived quality of the site, its crawl history, and the freshness of the content. If Google rebuilds the tool, it might incorporate these variables more explicitly — which would mean that not all sites would regain the same level of access.

In what cases does this outage become critical?

For a standard blog or stable showcase site, the impact is minimal. The natural crawl ultimately does its job. But for three profiles, it poses a real issue: e-commerce sites launching thousands of references with limited stock, news media where every minute counts, and sites in migration that need to transition thousands of URLs quickly.

In these contexts, losing the indexing request extends indexing delays by several days, even weeks for under-crawled sites. The result: loss of revenue, SEO traffic, or visibility on time-sensitive content. This is a direct business risk, not just a technical inconvenience.

What should you do concretely while waiting for the tool's return?

The first action: optimize your crawl budget. If Google is no longer prioritizing your URLs manually, you might as well maximize the efficiency of its natural passage. This involves serious cleanup: removing unnecessary URLs from the sitemap, blocking zombie pages with the robots.txt, correcting redirection chains that slow down the crawl.

The second lever: strengthen your internal linking. Critical pages should be accessible within 1-2 clicks from the homepage or from heavily crawled pages. The more quickly a URL is accessible from strategic entry points, the faster it will be discovered and indexed — even without a manual request.

What mistakes should be avoided during this period of uncertainty?

Don’t fall into panic and don’t multiply submissions via the XML sitemap every hour. It won't help and could even irritate the crawl algorithms. Google detects abnormal behaviors and may slow down processing if the site creates too much noise.

Avoid relying on third-party tools that claim to 'force indexing.' Most are scams or rely on dubious techniques (spammy backlinks, PBN networks) that expose you to penalties. There is no magic shortcut — and that is precisely what Google aims to reaffirm by disabling the tool.

How can I verify that my site remains efficiently indexable?

Use the URL inspection tool in Search Console to ensure that your critical pages are marked as 'URL accessible to Google' and that the rendering corresponds to the expected content. If a page is not indexed, check the canonicalization status, accidental noindex tags, and its presence in the sitemap.

Also, monitor server logs to analyze how frequently Googlebot is visiting your strategic URLs. If the crawl slows down, it’s a signal that your site lacks freshness or quality signals. In that case, increase the production of core content, multiply editorial updates, and work on quality backlinks.

• Clean the XML sitemap: keep only indexable and up-to-date URLs
• Strengthen internal linking to critical pages (1-2 clicks max from homepage)
• Analyze server logs to track Googlebot's crawl frequency
• Correct technical errors (redirects, accidental noindex tags, incorrect canonicals)
• Do not spam Google with repeated submissions via sitemap
• Regularly produce fresh content to maintain active crawl signals