Google will remove the full-page app install ads soon

Google has introduced new change for mobile searchers. The company is putting serious efforts to make the Web friendly for mobile users. Denial Daniel Bathgate, Software Engineer at Google Search has posted on Google Webmaster Central Blog that mobile-friendly webpages using large app install ads will be affected negatively in mobile search result soon. It is a small change that is going to affect lots of websites that welcome users with a large app install interstitial ads after clicking on the search result. As the majority of users uses mobile devices nowadays to find information online, this change will be crucial for both users and advertisers.

Google has announced on the blog that users must get only relevant information through search result irrespective of apps or web pages. App install interstitials covering the whole page becomes very irritating sometimes as it blocks users accessing the actual information they want. Google is going to address this Mobile Usability issue in Mobile Friendly Test via search console. Webmasters have the time till 1^st of November to solve the problem. Google won’t penalize the sites, but it will remove the ‘mobile-friendly’ label from the web page after 1^st  November. As Google is prioritizing the mobile first websites for search results in mobile search, removing ‘mobile friendly’ label can cause ranking drop for specific search terms.

Google also told that the update won’t affect any other type of interstitial ads. “After November 1, mobile web pages that show an app install interstitial that hides a significant amount of content on the transition from the search result page, will no longer be considered mobile-friendly. This does not affect other types of interstitials. As an alternative to app install interstitials, browsers provide ways to promote an app that are more user-friendly.” Google recommends webmasters to use app install banners or native app install APIs to boost the app installs from search results.

Google always tries to provide optimum user experience for the mobile users. The company has launched the ‘mobilegeddon’ mobile friendly ranking algorithm April to promote the mobile-friendly webpages in the mobile search result. They are also testing with lots of other factors affecting the mobile usability. As spotted by TechCrunch, Google also uses the full-page app install interstitials for some of its products. It will be interesting the see how Google and other advertisers react over this forced change by the Google.