Ever visit a site on your phone and get hit with a full page ad for an app that wants you to install it? Google feels your pain and is going to do something about that problem.
Google says that it’s updated its Mobile-Friendly Test to show that sites should avoid interstitial ads for app installs that cover up a significant portion of the content when a user taps on a search result. Any sites that continue to show these types of ads after November 1 will not be considered “mobile-friendly” by Google.
Rather than using an interstitial ad, Google recommends that sites utilize a banner ad that’s less intrusive. 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.
If Google stops considering a site to be “mobile-friendly,” the site’s search ranking will drop, something that most site owners don’t want. That means that it’s in their interest to get rid of these ads if there are any on their sites. That’s good news for consumers, because not only does a large app install interstitial block the content that they’re searching for, but they can also be pretty tough to close, requiring you to locate an “X” button that’s often small and then ensure that you tap that button and not on the ad, which could then boot you away from the content that you want out to your device’s app store.
