Following a raft of mobile-friendly search related changes, Google will soon punish sites that display ads that aren’t user-friendly.
Google is taking task with large app install ads that nearly cover the entire mobile screen, prompting users to download an app.
From today, Google has updated its Mobile-Friendly Test to say that sites must avoid showing app install interstitials that “hide a significant amount of content” when transitioning from search results to a content page.
In a blog post, Google said: “Our analysis shows that it is not a good search experience and can be frustrating for users because they are expecting to see the content of the web page.”
Google wants people to prefer app install banners, such as those on the right, rather than full page app install ads like those on the left.
The tech giant said: “Banners provide a consistent user interface for promoting an app and provide the user with the ability to control their browsing experience.
“Webmasters can also use their own implementations of app install banners as long as they don’t block searchers from viewing the page’s content.”
And from 1st November, those that do not comply with the new standards will not be deemed mobile-friendly, and therefore will suffer in search results.
Google said this does not affect other types of interstitials, only app installs.
Webmasters are now able to check their sites using Google’s Mobile Usability report to show the number of pages on their site that have this issue.
Google recently released its brand new logo, following the announcement that it would operate under an umbrella company called Alphabet.
Check out the video explaining the change below: