Google’s Mobile Ads Update: What Advertisers Should Know
Google recently announced they will be updating their search ranking algorithm to punish websites that use invasive interstitial advertisements on mobile websites. The update will be rolled out on Jan 10th 2017, and will be lowering the search ranking of websites that use these interstitial advertisements that block out content on mobile platforms. It is the blocking of content combined with the difficulty involved with dismissing the advertisement in which Google’s search ranking algorithm will decide how to list the mobile web page moving forward. Google will be rolling out the interstitial ad update along with an update in which it will no longer list whether the web page is mobile friendly due to the fact that nearly 85% of all web pages online are now optimized for mobile.
Why Interstitial Mobile Ads?
The issues with these clicks on full page mobile ads are that an individual may have tried to exit out of the advertisement and mistakenly clicked on the advertisement, resulting in incorrect data recorded for the advertisement. Having a large enough click-out box allows for the advertiser to record more accurate data, the user to have a better mobile experience, and the web page to have a higher listing on Google.
(Mobile Interstitial Advertisement that is easy to close)
Mobile SEO Optimization vs. Desktop SEO
There are a few rules that change between desktop and mobile SEO, remembering these rules will help optimize your mobile site to perform better and rank higher in Google. Over the past few years the switch from Flash to HTML5 has allowed for the mobile sites to perform better due to the ability to run animations that were previously done via Adobe Flash. With Google specifically lowering a website’s search rank if it contains Flash, it has been hugely beneficial to consumers in turn.
Responsive Mobile Design
Of important note is that with the rise of larger phones and tablets, web pages must now conform to various mobile sizes. Websites that are responsive to these variations, which contain multiple break points not only will see a boost in their search ranking, but also a happier user base. With regards to mobile advertisements, they must be able to scale with the size of the webpage.
Lastly it is important to note that Google and other search engines contain web crawlers to help index web content. If your website contains anything that blocks these web crawlers from accessing your content, such as JavaScript files and images, the crawlers will lower your listing within the search listing.
(Types of Mobile Advertisements)
As mobile traffic continues to grow users should expect more updates from search engines to index websites with better mobile platforms higher. The growth in mobile placements is a testament to the expanding world of mobile. The integration of advertisements with the design and functionality of a mobile platform is central to a website’s success. As the mobile world continues to grow, users should expect to see innovation within the world of mobile advertising to keep up with the increase in mobile traffic.
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