Standardization is something we need more of on the Web, and it looks like Google and Yahoo are leading the way with their latest sitemaps initiative. Google and Yahoo (and I think MSN) have agreed to standardize the way they read information from sites through sitemaps. Sitemaps may seem like a hum-drum, boring, old school interface feature, but they are actually very useful if you know how to use them.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: A site map (or sitemap) is a web page that lists the pages on a web site, typically organized in hierarchical fashion. This helps visitors and search enginebots find pages on the site. Site maps can improve search engine optimization of a site by making sure that all the pages can be found.

I caught a video from the Web Pro News where they conduct a gripping interview with people from Google and Yahoo. Check it out for more insight. I remember the Yahoo guy in the interview from the old Webmaster World days when we were thinking about SEO consulting…old days? That’s was only a year ago.