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Ping
Last Updated: May 13, 2020
Definition - What does Ping mean?
In the context of blogging, ping is a technique used by blogs to notify one or more servers whenever the blog is updated.
To notify the servers, the blog uses an XML-RPC-based push mechanism which is known as pinging. Pinging has drastically improved content visibility time on the internet since the days when servers had to wait for a long time after submitting their content to the search engines.
The process is automated and very efficient. There is a certain flow or procedure by which the servers are notified each time the blogs are updated.
Techopedia explains Ping
When a blog is updated with fresh content, the blog sends an XML-RPC signal to one or more ping servers that are controlled by the blog.
The ping servers in turn notify one or more services such as search engines, website directories, news websites, aggregators and feed websites.
The services then accept the updated content and perform their respective jobs. For example, search engines index the website while aggregators notify their subscribers about any relevant content whenever it accepts input from ping servers.
Ping servers can be either open or proprietary. Pinging has reduced the time for web crawlers to find fresh content on search engines.
While pinging has made life easier for bloggers, this technique has also been for spam distribution.
