Ask.com to support Google’s Sitemap protocol for web indexing

The sitemap protocol was originally designed and developed by the search engine giant Google to make it easier for the web developers to get their websites properly indexed.

The protocol was later adopted by rivals including Yahoo! and Microsoft’s MSN division. The three companies have now confirmed that IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Ask.com will support the protocol as well.

The three search engine companies have also said that they have together added new features to the Sitemap protocol and they are now also being supported by IBM.

The Sitemap protocol is in version 0.90 and it essentially provides a uniform way of telling search index crawlers where site map files are located on a site. It is being shared with other developers under the terms of the Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.