Google page layout algorithm targets excessive ads above the fold

[djbaxter]

Page layout algorithm improvement
by Matt Cutts
January 19, 2012

In our ongoing effort to help you find more high-quality websites in search results, today we?re launching an algorithmic change that looks at the layout of a webpage and the amount of content you see on the page once you click on a result.

As we?ve mentioned previously, we?ve heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it?s difficult to find the actual content, they aren?t happy with the experience. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don?t have much content ?above-the-fold? can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn?t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site?s initial screen real estate to ads, that?s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.

We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content. This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads.

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[radhika21]

Another Google's crazy algorithm? Idea is good. When ever I stare at the web pages to load all the ads so I can move the scroll bar, I FEEL the annoyance ... But how google knows how much above the fold realestate is occupied by the ads?

A simple javascript (one line of code) can be used to full up the whole space with ads.

Anyways, it might be beyond our imaginations.

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[djbaxter]

I don't think it's crazy at all. It's about CONTENT, not made for AdSense sites or other advertisement dominated pages. Why on earth should such sites rank high in search results? The only person that would serve would be the site owner.

 

[TheSocial]

We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content. This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree

I totally agree with this step provided it is done exactly as described above. With more changes to Google algorithm webmasters are more cautious and anxious to what future hold to them. I hope this does not affect websites with no excessive ads.

 

[iqbal]

page layout algorithm improvement is the right step Google took.

This algorithmic change noticeably affects less than 1% of searches globally.

I will not worry.