Following Google’s lead, Microsoft has revealed that it is also tweaking its search algorithm to give mobile-friendly websites a boost in search rankings.
Shyam Jayasankar of the Bing Mobile Relevance Team said their approach to mobile friendliness as it pertains to rankings balances the need to improve the rankings of mobile-friendly pages with providing the most relevant content.
Microsoft considers a number of factors when determining mobile friendliness such as navigation, readability, scrolling and compatibility. In a nutshell, Bing is looking for sites with large, easy-to-read text that’s compatible across a range of mobile devices. The example images embedded in this story best illustrate what they mean.
Echoing the sentiments of Google, Jayasankar noted that Bing users can always expect to see the most relevant results for a search ranked higher, even if some of them aren’t mobile friendly. It has taken a few iterations to get right but the team believes it is close now. As a result, they expect to start rolling out mobile friendliness ranking changes in the coming months.
In related news, Microsoft is also working on a tool that will allow webmasters to analyze their pages as it relates to mobile friendliness. Said tool will show site owners what areas of their sites suffer from mobile friendliness issues and how to remedy them. The tool will be released in a few weeks, we’re told.
https://www.techspot.com/news/60692-bing-also-making-changes-favor-mobile-friendly-sites.html
