Google's Mobilegeddon And How It Could Impact Retailers
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Google confirms that its mobile friendly update is live in some, not all, data centers
Google began rolling out its new mobile-friendly algorithm update on April 21, and according to tests reported by TechCrunch it could affect 44 percent of Fortune 500 companies’ websites.
Under the new update, a site must be easy to use from a mobile device, otherwise it will be downgraded in smartphone search results. Mobile-friendly sites have readable text without tapping and zooming; their tap targets need to be spaced out appropriately; and pages avoid unplayable content or horizontal scrolling. In other words, the site simply needs to be easily usable from a mobile device.
The transition to mobile-friendly websites is crucial for retailers who rely on Omni channel marketing to customers, especially since the use of mobile devices is quickly surpassing PC usage so companies that don’t have mobile friendly websites are clearly at a disadvantage. Search accounted for 43 percent of smartphone traffic in Q1 2015, according to a study from Branding Brand, up 5 percent from the previous quarter.
In addition Google has been publishing details about how changes to its search algorithm will favor mobile friendly sites over non-mobile friendly ones.
Tech Crunch found that while only 52 percent of the Fortune 500 operate mobile-friendly sites ahead of the update, top retailers’ sites such as Wal-Mart and Costco were ready for the change. This is an improvement over results of a 2013 study that demonstrated that two-thirds of the Fortune 100 were not yet prepared for mobile search, as TechCrunch reported, but obviously there is still a long way to go.
To be judged mobile-friendly, a site must offer readable text without a lot of touch adjustments, easy-to-use tap targets and other features. The algorithm will only affect search results on smartphones.
Google also emphasized that changes will only affect a site’s search ranking on mobile devices, only applies to individual pages, not entire websites, and also only impacts smartphone searches, not those done on tablets.
This more recent move by Google represents not just an affirmation of smartphone growth, but also the need to maintain relevance in the mobile space. While search accounts for 43 percent of smartphone traffic, Google must fight for consumer attention that is distracted by native apps and push notifications.