Update 2/8/17: We are now a full month into the rollout of the mobile popup algorithm and I am still not seeing widespread impact. I did surface a few examples of urls being impact during the first week of the rollout, but there are still many sites employing mobile popups or interstitials that have not been impacted at all. I am tracking close to seventy different websites using mobile popups and interstitials, and almost all of the urls I’m tracking rank exactly where they did prior to the rollout. I will keep tracking the situation and post updates and more examples as I surface them.
When it comes to Google algorithm updates, it’s not often we know about those updates before they roll out. Typically they roll out and we react, analyze the impact, and then try to determine what’s going on. But that’s not always the case. There are times where Google provides fair warning that an update is coming, so webmasters can make the necessary changes in order to avoid negative impact. That’s exactly what we are experiencing right now.
In August of 2016, Google announced that sites employing mobile popups or interstitials on pages that users visit directly from the Google mobile search results “may not rank as highly”. The date Google provided was January 10, 2017 (this week). So webmasters had about five months to figure out a plan.
Would those webmasters cave in to Google’s pressure and remove mobile popups and interstitials, or would they stand their ground and keep them? For many sites, those popups drive conversion (email signups, sale notifications, event ads, social follows, etc.) But for many users, those popups and interstitials were extremely disruptive. From young users to old, those popups caused a lot of grief.
Monitoring The Rollout
In preparation for the mobile popup algorithm, I began compiling a list of sites that employ mobile popups or interstitials. My plan was to check mobile rankings as the algorithm update rolled out on 1/10/17 to gauge the impact. On Tuesday, we received confirmation from Google that it was indeed rolling out, so I fired up my tools and started checking mobile rankings. I initially didn’t see any changes at all, but that makes sense based on comments from Google. For example, John Mueller said that it could take a few days to see impact since the algorithm had to fully roll out.
So here we are… a few days out from the rollout and I’ve been heavily checking my data. Below, I’ll provide the first examples of the mobile popup algorithm in action (from WhoSampled.com, which uses a mobile interstitial asking users to download their mobile app). As you’ll see below, the urls dropped by over 10 spots (from page one to two).
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{Update 1/12/17: I just added screenshots from pcmag.com, which also provides a mobile popup when visiting from Google search}.
{Update 1/14/17: Although I have found several examples of the mobile popup algorithm in action, I have not seen widespread impact. I am tracking over fifty different websites that employ mobile popups and many of their urls rank exactly where they did before the algorithm rolled out. I will keep monitoring the situation and will post updates as I surface more findings.}
{Update 1/16/17: We are now seven days into the rollout of the mobile popup algorithm and I am still not seeing widespread impact. Yes, I have seen some examples, which you can see listed below, but there are still many sites employing mobile popups or interstitials that have not been impacted. I am now tracking close to sixty different sites that use mobile popups. I will post more examples of impact as time goes on (if there are any). Stay tuned.}
{Update 1/18/17: We are now nine days into the rollout of the mobile popup algorithm and I am still not seeing widespread impact. Again, I am tracking close to sixty different websites using mobile popups and almost all of the urls I’m tracking rank exactly where they did prior to the rollout. I reached out to Google yesterday on Twitter and John Mueller said he would pass along feedback to the team handling the mobile popup algorithm (about the lack of impact I’m seeing across sites). Also, in response to Marie Haynes, Gary Illyes tweeted that Google might need to recrawl urls prior to any impact being seen. Gary said, “We need to recrawl the web afaik. That takes time.” I don’t know if that’s the case, but it’s worth noting. Both tweets are displayed below. I will keep tracking the situation and post updates and more examples as I surface them.}
Google’s John Mueller on Twitter regarding the strength of the mobile popup algorithm:
Google’s Gary Illyes about possibly needing a fresh crawl:
{Update 1/20/17: We are now eleven days into the rollout of the mobile popup algorithm and I am still not seeing widespread impact. Actually, I’m not seeing much movement at all. I just ran through my list of sites using mobile popups or interstitials (~60), and almost all of the urls I checked rank exactly where they did prior to the algorithm rolling out. And the mobile rankings match the desktop rankings (meaning the urls are not being demoted in the mobile search results. I have not heard anything back from Google regarding the rollout based on the tweets listed above. I will try and post another update soon.}
{Update 1/24/17: We are now fifteen days into the rollout of the mobile popup algorithm and I am still not seeing widespread impact. I am checking twice per day based on a long list of sites still employing mobile popups or interstitials. I truly hope we are not seeing the final mobile popup algorithm. If this is it, I fear publishers that have removed popups will revert back to using them. And then publishers that stood their ground and kept mobile popups or interstitials will continue to employ them. That would be unfortunate… Time will tell. Stay tuned.}
{Update 2/8/17: We are now a full month into the rollout of the mobile popup algorithm and I am still not seeing widespread impact. I just checked my list of close to seventy domains using mobile popups and interstitials and I did not see any changes. If this is it, then the mobile popup algorithm is officially a dud. I will post another update if I see any changes. Stay tuned.}
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I’ll keep checking urls from across sites and update this post with more examples as I surface them.
Examples of the mobile popup algorithm in action:
1. WhoSampled.com
Query: wanna be a baller
Previous Rank: 6
New Rank: 20
Screenshot of ranking on 1/12/17 (#20)
Screenshot of ranking on 1/8/17 (#6):
2. WhoSampled.com
Query: 6 foot 7 foot
Previous Rank: 5
New Rank: 16
Screenshot of ranking on 1/12/17 (#16):
Screenshot of ranking on 1/8/17 (#5):
3. pcmag.com
Query: hotschedules
Previous Rank: 3
New Rank: 13
Screenshot of ranking on 1/12/17 (#13):
Screenshot of ranking on 1/08/17 (#3):
Summary – The Algorithm Rolls Out, Webmasters Adjust
It should be interesting to see how websites adjust based on the impact. I know that some wanted to test the waters to see how bad the impact could be, and then refine based on the severity. The algorithm is on a url-by-url basis, so changes to specific urls can be made quickly. I’ll be monitoring the situation closely and will update this post, if needed.
GG