Google Sitemaps Gains Support from Yahoo and MSN

The uptake of Google Sitemaps by webmasters has resulted in an unexpected alliance between Google, Yahoo and MSN. The three search giants have joined forces to launch Sitemaps.org, a new webmaster protocol to encourage a web standard for sitemap creation and submission.

Included in the protocol is:

• an XML schema format recommended for sitemaps
• definitions of the various XML tags
• detailed instructions for sitemap creation
  
• sitemap validation tools
  
• instructions for alerting search engine crawlers about your sitemap

Looks like paid trusted feed services are dead and buried! Good riddance. And if you're looking for a free XML sitemap creator, check out this one.