Mobilegeddon
Mobilegeddon is a name given by webmasters and web-developers to Google's algorithm update of April 21, 2015. The main effect of this update is to give priority to web sites that display well on smartphones and other mobile devices. The change does not affect searches made from a desktop computer or a laptop.[1]
Google announced its intention to make the change in February 2015.[2] The Economist found the timing "awkward" because they said "It comes less than a week after the European Union accused the firm..." of anti-competitive behaviors.[3]
The protologism is a blend word of "mobile" and "Armageddon" because the change "could cause massive disruption to page rankings."[4] But, writing for Forbes, Robert Hof says that concerns about the change were "overblown" in part because "Google is providing a test to see if sites look good on smartphones".[5]
Search engine results pages on smartphones now show URLs in "breadcrumb" format, as opposed to the previous explicit format.[6]
Impact
Based on their data set, software company Searchmetrics found that the average loss of rankings for the non-mobile friendly sites measured was 0.21 positions on average.[7] Content marketing company BrightEdge has tracked over 20,000 URLs since the update, and is reporting a 21% decrease in non mobile-friendly URLs on the first 3 pages of search results.[8] A study by search agency s360 A/S showed that mobile friendly websites have gotten 32% more organic mobile traffic than non-mobile friendly websites.[9] At Moz they observed minor fluctuations just around April 21, but according to Peter J. Meyers it was “nothing to write home about”.[10]
See also
References
- ^ Sanders, Sam (2015-04-21). "Google's New Search Algorithm Stokes Fears Of 'Mobilegeddon'". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
The change is only taking place on Google searches made on smartphones.
- ^ Cellan-Jones, Rory (2015-04-21). "Google's 'mobilegeddon' - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
Google gave plenty of warning, telling developers about the change in a blog post in February and providing a simple tool to check whether sites were mobile
- ^ "Mobilegeddon". The Economist. 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
The timing is awkward... It comes less than a week after the European Union accused the firm...
- ^ Curtis, Sophie (2015-04-20). "Google search overhaul could spark 'Mobilegeddon'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
...could cause massive disruption to page rankings...
- ^ Hof, Robert (2015-04-21). "Why Google's Mobilegeddon Isn't The End Of The World For Most Websites". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
Overblown concerns ... Google is providing a test to see if sites look good on smartphones...
- Hof is referring to the Google Developer Mobile-friendly Test site - ^ "Better presentation of URLs in search results". 16 April 2015.
- ^ "Mobile Ranking Factors 2015".
- ^ "Non-Mobile-Friendly Share of SERPs Decreases 21% with April 21 Mobile Algorithm Change".
- ^ "Google's Mobile Update: Data from 4 weeks out".
- ^ "7 Days After Mobilegeddon: How Far Did the Sky Fall?".