Google News has been known to be generous in adding publishers to Google News index. But recently they have come under fire for being too spammy and has dropped some publishers with their new algorithm.
Google News representative, Harvey P., said in a Google News Help thread that throughout the remainder of the 2010 year, Google News will slow the process of including and reviewing new publications into the Google News index.
Harvey said:
Hello Google News Publishers,We wanted to let you all know that there will be a slow down in reviewing sites for inclusion into Google News through the end of the year. If you have recently submitted a site for review, please expect a delay in receiving a response from our team. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we sincerely appreciate your patience.
Thanks as always for choosing to make your content discoverable through Google News.
Best,
Harvey P. and the Google News Team
I assume this has to do with Googlers taking some time off for the holiday season and not the spam issues people have been complaining about.
I should note that in February 2009, Google added over 20,000 publishers to the Google News index and has been rapidly adding more since. The Google News team can use a little vacation.
Forum discussion at Google News Help.
