Google update for ‘Mobile-Friendly’ sites’ search rankings

Ever came across a page that asks you install an app rather than showing the content first, you asked for? Your answer would be: Countless times. Well, Google is coming to your rescue in this case. They are coming with a major overhaul in search ranking changes for the searches which are done using a smartphone. This new update says that any site which shows the user an interstitial i.e., a big prompt asking suggesting them to install their app is not mobile-friendly. And rankings of such sites are bound to be affected from 1^st November, 2015.

Earlier, Google had come up with a search ranking change named Mobilegeddon which had given benefits to the sites which were running with mobile-friendly pages. But with this update some of the very famous big shots are bound to be affected negatively.

Google is not just doing this out of the blue. They tested this tactic on Google+ wherein they placed such full page prompts for app installation. 9% of total users who came across such prompts clicked on the link but not all of them didn’t go through the installation. The figure of 9% is already very low and on top of that 100% conversion ratio was not achieved in that as well. Even more shocking founding was that such prompts increased the bounce rate. Majority of the users who came across an interstitial, simply navigated away from the page and not taking pain to dismissing the prompt and moving on to the required content.

However, Google is also suggesting a workaround for the developers who will be in trouble with the dilemma of whether to think of ad or of raking. Google recommends that the developer should look into usage of banner for which Chrome and Safari have APIs in existence.

Smartphone app developers, who make their sites mobile-friendly and compatible with all smartphones and browsers will have a tough task ahead after this updates is rolled out.