Getting into Google News, URL's & Sitemaps

[stacksnew]

Hello,

I know that one of the 'technical requirements' to get into google news is that the URL's have unique numbers at the end, BUT, that requirement can be circumvented if you have a Google News Sitemap.

I've purchased the Yoast Google News Sitemap (https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/news-seo/) BUT just found out that you cannot submit a google news Sitemap until you are accepted into google news.

Thus, my question is that do you need to add the digits to the URL's temporarily until you get in and can submit a google news sitemap, OR, is it ok to apply without them and take care of the sitemap after you get in.

If anyone has any other tips about getting into Google News that would be great! Thanks!

[wearehappymedia]

We worked with a local blog once trying to get into Google news and one of  the biggest sticking points is the authenticity of the articles coming from journalists. A list of who is writing and their Google + details helped a lot. Until you get accepted no point in updating the Yoast plugin from our experience.

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Still doubt if this technical requirement is still a requirement as I work with multiple sites that are listed in Google News without having the digits in the URL.