So starting 1 November, Google plans on updating its Mobile Friendly test and demoting sites that have pop-up app install prompts that “hides a significant amount of content on the transition from the search result page”. Any sites that continue to show these types of ads after November 1 will not be considered “mobile-friendly” by Google. This means they will likely rank lower on Google’s mobile search results pages.
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“Banners provide a consistent user interface for promoting an app and provide the user with the ability to control their browsing experience”.
I actually noticed that Google was adding app interstitials to the mobile friendly test at the end of July, but the information was removed from Google Search Console shortly after the post went live.
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If you’re an Android user, Google has also updated the homepage of its Google app. Now cards will be organized by category in a predictable fashion to help you get the most out of your day. Safari and Chrome each have their own special version of app instal banner ads, but Google says webmasters can use a different version if they’d prefer. In April, the search engine tweaked its search algorithm to favor sites it deemed “mobile-friendly” – a shift the industry dubbed “mobilegeddon”. These two tools will show you immediately if you have problems with ranking and app interstitials. But we should see some additional data on install rates and abandonment once people begin making the change away from app interstitials.
