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Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

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Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#191

Post by jayajay »

Animats wrote: post #47

What's really stupid are sites from which you can buy things, but then pop up an ad for something else. Fandango, which sells movie tickets, does this. As you're trying to get to the "buy ticket" page, they shove movie trailers for other movies in your face. I mentioned a site earlier today which sold plumbing supplies.[1] They pop up a "gimme your email" box which 1) cannot be dismissed , and 2) isn't even theirs, i…

This is why I have stopped reading articles on Washington Post, and other similar article sites. The standard they are creating for the web is not one I can support.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#192

Post by inlined »

mmanfrin wrote: post #60
Animats wrote: post #47

What's really stupid are sites from which you can buy things, but then pop up an ad for something else. Fandango, which sells movie tickets, does this. As you're trying to get to the "buy ticket" page, they shove movie trailers for other movies in your face. I mentioned a site earlier today which sold plumbing supplies.[1] They pop up a "gimme your email" box which 1) cannot be dismissed , and 2) isn't even theirs, i…

I blame this on A/B tests which ignore externalities. Sure, maybe the 3 metrics you were aiming for were improved, but your brand is fucked. I think brands like Sears/Kenmore/Craftsman were A/Bed to death. So many little 'optimizations' (read: cost cutting that looked-good-on-paper) that eventually destroyed what the brand was about in the first place.

I think this is related to my fundamental problem with A/B testing: when people A/B test individual variables they'll take a greedy optimization that gets stuck in local minima. The other problem is that you only understand the change in metrics you measure and things like "satisfaction" are often lost.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#193

Post by nerdponx »

enjo wrote: post #149
lathiat wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had many sites pop this up within seconds of being on the site. Though the attention span of some might be short, I suspect the data collected by these surveys is highly unhelpful simply because you have not yet experienced the product. Given they're all from the same company usually whose name escapes me right now, you'd think they'd be better at it?

One of my lobby conversations at a SEM conference dealt with those quick survey popups. The guy I was talking to swore that by putting one on their landing pages conversion increased by like 30%. His theory was that it helps to refocus users who are about to bounce. Give them a second to digest the page and right before they click the back button bring SOMETHING up to grab their attention. They'll just click the surv…

Should be easy enough to A/B test.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#194

Post by nvr219 »

DrScump wrote: post #151
ageitgey wrote: post #82

Most users hate these pop-ups and cheer this move from Google. But let me add a little context to why these ads are so prevalent and why some companies view this move as Google abusing their power. If you visit to any "guide" website like TripAdviser, Yelp, etc, these days on a mobile browser, you'll notice that the sites often barely let you do anything without downloading the native app. They all but refuse to let…

The reason for this behavior is that Google is systematically destroying the SEO traffic of these sites Another reason is that with apps, they have the opportunity to harvest the phone owners private data directly (contacts, messages, seeing what competing apps are installed, etc.) Most people don't pay attention to the overbroad spectrum of access many apps demand. Specific example: Samsung changed the Gallery app (…

How much of a problem is this on iOS?

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#196

Post by sparky_z »

flukus wrote: post #169
sparky_z wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't see how. What are the alternatives you envision? Switching to a more expensive service that doesn't show ads but charges a markup? Physically waiting in line at the box office? Sadly, if "give it away for free and make money from advertising" is the dominant business model in an industry, it's very hard to disrupt. That's precisely because there aren't really any sustainable incentives for users to swi…

How much do they make per add shown? Is it more than a price difference users would care about, say 50c? If one experience is awful and one is pleasant but 50c more then most aren't going to notice the difference. Not to mention the effects on the advertiser, being disrupted from what I'm doing to see your ad makes me not want to see your movie. For theatre's over reliance on advertising has already turned a lot of p…

All those points could just as easily be used to argue that paid services are a superior business model to ad-supported services in general. Unfortunately, history doesn't bear that out. The revealed preferences of actual customers is different from what you and I think they should want. Just look at an app store.

For what it's worth, I'm with you. I'd rather pay a small fee to avoid ads (and I do so whenever available.) But I've come to the sad conclusion that we are a small minority of consumers. Better to accept that than fall prey to the is-ought fallacy.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#197

Post by webartisan »

What's disheartening is that many websites have started finding workarounds to show these interstitials after a delay or in between screen transitions.

The inherent problem is that app experiences somehow lead to better conversions, and no company would want to lose revenue due to dropped install numbers.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#198

Post by pryelluw »

mmanfrin wrote: post #60
Animats wrote: post #47

What's really stupid are sites from which you can buy things, but then pop up an ad for something else. Fandango, which sells movie tickets, does this. As you're trying to get to the "buy ticket" page, they shove movie trailers for other movies in your face. I mentioned a site earlier today which sold plumbing supplies.[1] They pop up a "gimme your email" box which 1) cannot be dismissed , and 2) isn't even theirs, i…

I blame this on A/B tests which ignore externalities. Sure, maybe the 3 metrics you were aiming for were improved, but your brand is fucked. I think brands like Sears/Kenmore/Craftsman were A/Bed to death. So many little 'optimizations' (read: cost cutting that looked-good-on-paper) that eventually destroyed what the brand was about in the first place.

Good point. I see this almost on a daily basis with clients. They miss the forrest for the trees. Its dumb to optimize for email capture when people end up hating your brand as a result of it. I remove all pop ups and simply add clear calls to action in different places in the page. They are static components that are part of the layout. The copy is then adjusted to drive invite people to subscribe. I get higher quality conversions. Its not the quantity but the quality of the leads. People forget that.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#199

Post by nine_k »

ajmurmann wrote: post #98
alphonsegaston wrote: post #15

I'd really like to see them work on improving relevancy instead of swinging their corporate weight around at whatever "benevolent" end they decide is important this week. Considering how much time I have to spend nowadays tweaking queries and futzing with the search tool options to get relevant results, I'm starting to look at all of these moves much more cynically. Taking on anti-patterns is great, but not when your…

I think there is a real market for a software developer focused search engine. None of the issues we have matter for a search a normal person does which is what Google of course optimizes for. A search like "what are the best food carts in Portland" is fundamentally different from looking for the text of an exception that was thrown by a particular library version. Our needs are to small for giant Google to care abou…

Would you be willing to pay for it? If so, how much monthly?

I'm afraid a search engine so much specialized won't be able to live off ads.

Re: Google Has Started Penalizing Mobile Websites with Intrusive Pop-Up Ads

#200

Post by [deleted] »

ageitgey wrote: post #82

Most users hate these pop-ups and cheer this move from Google. But let me add a little context to why these ads are so prevalent and why some companies view this move as Google abusing their power. If you visit to any "guide" website like TripAdviser, Yelp, etc, these days on a mobile browser, you'll notice that the sites often barely let you do anything without downloading the native app. They all but refuse to let…

[deleted]
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