Mobile sites that use pop-up ads will drop down Google's search rankings

[midian182]

As the mobile web continues to grow at a rapid pace, so does the number of annoying pop-ups and interstitials. Google knows how irritating these can be to users, which is why it’s decided to do something about it. The company reasons that as most sites using these ads offer a poorer experience, their rankings should be penalized in the mobile search results.

The change, due to come into effect on January 10, 2017, is one of two being brought in by Google. The other is the dropping of its “mobile-friendly” label used to identify which pages are optimized for smartphones.

Mobile sites that Google classes as suitable for mobile will continue to rank higher in the search results, but now, two years after the label was introduced, 85% of sites meet the mobile-friendly criteria, so Google decided it’s no longer necessary.

Google’s upcoming policy change on sites that use interstitials – the kind of ads that appear before you can access a site's main content, or ones that cover a site until they’re dismissed - will hopefully see their use diminish.

The company said that once the change takes place, “pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as highly [in Google search].”

Not every site that uses pop-ups and overlays will be punished. Interstitials that are used to verify someone’s age or to provide cookie information are okay, as are banners that take up “a reasonable amount of screen space.”

Google points out that the new signal is just one of hundreds that are used in rankings. And while using interstitials could affect a site’s position, it may still rank highly if it has “great, relevant content.”

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/66080-mobile-sites-use-pop-up-ads-drop-down.html

 

[seefizzle]

This is a step in the right direction. If these websites won't police themselves and stop using such horrible advertising, maybe their concern for their google search rankings will help get them in line. Hopefully.

 

[p1234]

Seems a bit of a story about nothing. Google has always demoted **** websites cos they have bad click through rates etc etc. The real bad culprits are mainly websites that we dont use search to find, I.e our fav streaming websites etc

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

They go to all this time and effort instead of just allowing Adblock to be installed on mobile devices, a much simpler and less frustrating solution.

 

[wiyosaya]

They go to all this time and effort instead of just allowing Adblock to be installed on mobile devices, a much simpler and less frustrating solution.

Well, the are Google, er, uh, Gagme. They know how to use your device better than you do! In some ways, they have become the M$ of the new millennia as I see it. M$ and Gagme make perfect bedfellows.

IMO, they should be doing something to make their search results more relevant rather than waste time on things like this. If, like I often do (and believe me I realize that I use things differently than others), you use search engines to do research on things, the results they return are often not very good since most searches are aimed at people wanting to buy things. From that viewpoint, I think search engine results have gotten worse over time instead of better.