If you’re in the recruiting world, you’ve likely heard about Indeed’s latest policy changes. As the #1 job site in the world, Indeed is a major player when it comes to job sponsorships and talent acquisition. But starting October 1, 2024, they’re making an important change that could impact your recruitment budget.

What Changes Did Indeed Make?

Indeed is implementing two key changes to its Sponsored Jobs API:

1. First Change (Effective September 1, 2024):
   Only paying customers who’ve sponsored jobs in the last three months can use the Sponsored Jobs API.

2. Second Change (Effective October 1, 2024):
   Businesses will now be charged $3 per API call if their total campaign sponsorship spend doesn’t cover the cost of API calls. If your monthly spend is less than the total cost of the calls, you’ll be billed for the difference.

So, what does this actually mean? Let me break it down for you!

What Is an API Call?

An API (Application Programming Interface) allows two systems or applications to communicate with each other. Think of it like placing a catering order for a party—rather than preparing the meal yourself, you call the caterer, who then takes care of the food for you, saving you time. Similarly, an API call requests specific data or services from another system.

When you’re using Indeed, API calls are happening behind the scenes to create or update your campaigns and pull performance data. In other words, these calls help automate key tasks so that you don’t have to manually check in on your job posts every five minutes, saving you time.

Why Do Indeed and Their Clients Use API Calls?

Indeed uses API calls for two critical tasks:

1. Sending campaign instructions – When you create or update job listings, API calls ensure the instructions go through. For example, when you create, update, or expire jobs, an API call ensures changes are immediately sent when the changes go live on your career sites. If Indeed doesn’t receive an update within 15 minutes, it could result in lowered visibility for that job.

2. Pulling relevant performance data – These calls retrieve real-time metrics on how your job posts are performing.

These API calls are crucial for streamlining your job sponsorships and gathering the data you need to optimize your campaigns. They save you time and effort, ensuring your hiring strategy runs smoothly.

What Should Businesses Worry About?

First off, if your business isn’t using an ATS (Applicant Tracking System), you don’t need to worry about this because you aren’t making any API calls.

However, if you are using an ATS and have an integration with Indeed's Job Sync API, then this blog is for you. If you’re spending big bucks on job sponsorships, this new change might not affect you much. But if you’re a small to mid-sized business or a recruitment team with a limited budget, the impact could be more noticeable.

Additionally, if you rely on Indeed’s organic traffic as a first option for finding candidates, but escalate to sponsored postings when you aren’t getting organic traffic, this is where it may get expensive.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you spent $2,000 on sponsored jobs in a month but made 1,000 API calls. At $3 per call, the total cost of your API usage would be $3,000. Since your sponsorship spend is $1,000 short, Indeed would charge you the difference, resulting in an additional $1,000 fee.

For smaller talent acquisition teams, these extra costs can add up quickly, especially if you’re not keeping an eye on how many API calls you’re making each month. (Those spooky ghost job postings collecting cobwebs on your careers page and auto-refreshing month after month will start costing you money. BOO!)

How These Charges Will Impact Indeed’s Clients

The main financial impact will come if your API call usage exceeds your monthly campaign spend. If your company relies heavily on API calls (think organic traffic) but doesn’t spend much on sponsorships, you’ll need to budget carefully to avoid unexpected fees.

For larger companies with higher ad budgets, you may not feel the sting as much. But for those with smaller budgets (especially small businesses), this new charge could eat into your recruiting dollars real quick. That’s why it’s important to monitor your API usage and plan your campaign spending strategically. This change should definitely be considered when you plan your 2025 recruiting budget.

The Bottom Line

Indeed’s new Sponsored Jobs API charges are something all recruiters and talent acquisition leaders should be aware of. While the change might seem small, it could have a significant impact on businesses that rely on organic traffic or have tighter recruitment budgets. It's time to assess how often you use API calls, take control of what you can in your ATS, and ensure your spend covers those new API call charges.

At We Thrive HR, we believe that staying informed is key to making smarter business decisions. If you need help navigating this change or have questions about your talent acquisition strategy, we’re here to help. Let’s work together to ensure your recruitment dollars are working as hard as you are!