SEO Pop-ups Penalty
algorithm update goes in January 10, 2017
As google continues it’s trend of trickling in algorithm changes related to user experience, on January 10, 2017 Google will start penalizing mobile search results for sites utilizing intrusive popups as they degrade the user experience.
Google’s official announcement states:
“Pages that show intrusive interstitials
Are all pop-ups affected? No.
Not all pop-ups are created equal, though, so there are some specifics around which types of interstitials Google considers to be disruptive to the user experience.
What is affected:
According to the official statement, interstitials affected by Google’s crackdown include the following:
* “Showing a popup that covers the main content, either immediately after the user navigates to a page from the search results, or while they are looking through the page.
* Displaying a standalone interstitial that the user has to dismiss before accessing the main content.
* Using a layout where the above-the-fold portion of the page appears similar to a standalone interstitial, but the original content has been inlined underneath the fold.”
What is not affected:
By contrast, here are some examples of techniques that, used responsibly, would not be affected by the new signal:
* Interstitials that appear to be in response to a legal obligation, such as for cookie usage or for age verification.
* Login dialogs on sites where content is not publicly indexable. For example, this would include private content such as email or unindexable content that is behind a paywall.
* Banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space and are easily dismissible. For example, the app install banners provided by Safari and Chrome are examples of banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space.
Why is this important:
51% percent of digital media is consumed via mobile, compared to a lagging 42% on desktop.