If today wasn't a "Holy expletive!" moment in the SEO industry, I don't know what is. Apparently, Yahoo and MSN have joined Google in supporting the sitemap protocol.

It's great news for webmasters, SEO specialists, and the like. I can hear the question now, though. "But wait, Stephen. I thought Google, MSN, and Yahoo were in competition. Why would they suddenly start working together?"

Well, don't think that the status quo has changed. My guess is that MSN and Yahoo adopted the sitemap protocol because it was the only option that wouldn't leave them at a competitive disadvantage. Consider the alternatives:

You are MSN or Yahoo. Do you...

1. ...ignore Google's sitemap protocol and all of the benefits it can provide to your index, leaving webmasters frustrated by old visibility issues and making you look like you're behind the times?


2. ...attempt to launch your own sitemap protocol, angering webmasters with an extra step to search engine visibility and driving focus away from your index?


3. ...bite the bullet, acknowledge that Google's sitemap protocol is the best thing since sliced bread, and agree to implement it on your own index to the applause of millions?
   

I'm honestly surprised they didn't jump at Option C sooner. A few of us had suspected that Yahoo was already designing sitemap protocol compliance into their Site Explorer, and it seems to already be working as promised. MSN, of course, is claiming full compliance by 2007, suggesting that they were last to sign into the deal. No surprise there.

Of course, MSN and Yahoo have basically acknowledged that Google came up with a great idea that they wish they had thought of first. Not that we don't already know who the industry leader is, but it's novel to see validation on this magnitude. Now we get to sit back and watch the tug-of-war ensue over how the schema develops.

<Takes out popcorn>