With Google’s recent joint venture to collaborate with Yahoo and MSN to create a Sitemap submission protocol standard, there has been a lot of buzz generating lately for Google Sitemaps in the SEO world. This has caused many webmasters and business owners to regain focus on the true implications and question the validity of the Google Sitemaps program. Because of all the noise, Rand Fishkin, SEO expert from SEOmoz.org interviews and questions Vanessa Fox of Google to help clear some of the smoke.

Some questions that are discussed in this video are: Does a duplicate content filter induce duplicate content penalties? What about format preference? Is an XML sitemap superior or can a simple text file suffice? What is OAI-PMH?

Given some recent dialog on sitemaps versus other SEO methods, Vanessa reiterates the intent of a sitemap: it should be merely one part of the strategy.

Also in the interview, Vanessa clarifies the difference between Google Toolbar's Page Rank and Google Webmaster Tools. Vanessa states, "Webmaster Tools- is a little more accurate and a little more up-to-date. The Toolbar page ranking does not get updated quite as often, of course it's only one factor. I feel like people get really hung-up on the Toolbar Page Rank. People probably spend a little more energy on it than they need to."

I think this interview was a good decision for Google and the rest of the SEO community. I agree with Vanessa and believe that submitting a Google Sitemap for your website is highly recommended. Is it the cure all? No, but is it an important piece to the SEO puzzle? Yes, most definitely. I’ve seen the positive results with my own eyes. I submit Sitemaps for each one of client and have noticed their content getting indexed in days, rather than months. Our business will continue to setup and submit Google Sitemaps for our clients, now following the new Sitemaps.org XML protocol standard.

You can watch the interview on WebProNews.com.