Google officially announced today that starting in May 2016 they will begin significantly ranking better Mobile Friendly websites and penalizing those sites that are not responsive or have mobile versions of the website.
They started ranking mobile websites higher last year and now it isn’t an option. You must have a mobile friendly website or face the consequence of lower mobile search rankings.
These changes have been taking place over the past few weeks, but they are not very solid.
We wanted to give you a clear picture of the new Google SERP changes that could have a massive impact for search marketers.
First, let’s look at the old Google SERPs. You would find typically 3 text ads above the 10 organic search results and 8 text ads down the right side rail of the page. You can see how this SERP orientation looks below.
Now let’s look at the New Google SERPs. In the new Google SERPs layout we find 4 texts ads above the 10 organic search results and 3 text ads below the organic search results at the bottom of the page. NO text ads down the right side rail of the page. You can see how this SERP orientation looks below.
Why is this a big deal? There are a number of reasons. 1. We now no longer have ad positions 8 – 11 on the first page of the search results. While these positions may not have produced high volume returns, they definitely contributed to incremental and profitable revenue for many companies.
2. With a 4th text ad above the organic results it pushes the organic search results even farther down the page. This is probably one of the largest hits to organic search since the last major algorithm change!
Will this layout remain in place? Not sure. The data on Google’s end will determine that. If usage remains consistent by advertisers & consumers and ad revenue increases slightly, then it likely will remain.
What are your thoughts on the new Google SERP changes?
