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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

#271

Post by bad_user »

inlined wrote: post #192
mmanfrin wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> greedy optimization that gets stuck in local minima

I think you wanted to say local maxima, but yes I agree.

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

#273

Post by Smirnoff »

I really would like to see Google penalize websites that force you to login after google showed these websites in the results.

1. Take Linkedin for example: you search for a person on google; google shows a linkedin result; you go to linkedin but you are greeted with giant popup asking you to login to view info. Ridiculous.

2. Same with Quora: they come in results with basic info, but when you go to their page, they forward you to registration/login page.

These practices are not ok in my book. Surely, they can do whatever they want on their websites but if Google indexes you and shows some info in search results, then you better show that info on your page without forcing me to register.

PS: To be clear -- this behavior happens on mobile version of their websites. Not sure how it plays out on desktop.

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

#274

Post by jakubp »

Smirnoff wrote: post #273

I really would like to see Google penalize websites that force you to login after google showed these websites in the results. 1. Take Linkedin for example: you search for a person on google; google shows a linkedin result; you go to linkedin but you are greeted with giant popup asking you to login to view info. Ridiculous. 2. Same with Quora: they come in results with basic info, but when you go to their page, they…

Unfortunately the info typically is on that page, just not complete - and you want more and Google knows it's the way to that information, so results are largely correct, no?

If those sites show something else to you than they show to Google Bot, that's against Google's policy and they should be penalized, so I'm assuming they aren't.

If energy required to get to the information you need through that path is too much (i.e. lots of people bounce on that page), that will again, generally, result in putting it lower in search results.

So either most people agree on putting up with the login page (or are logged in already), or some other factors which I assume you'd like to discount keep those pages so high.

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

#275

Post by blauditore »

nkkollaw wrote: post #150
lostinny wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, though I've unfortunately seen several tests that suggest that they work. The immediate "Give us your email" is much more effective than requests that wait for a certain number of pages, trigger after a certain scroll amount, or wait until you've been on the site for a significant amount of time. Of the people who see the pop up, the conversion rate is highest for those who see it immediately. And there's no…

They probably think they have to give their email to see the site. We are power users, a lot of people have no idea what they're doing on the web.

Yes, I even think there's a large amount of users that, when shown a random popup "please enter your password to continue", would just enter the password they use for every service, making phishing quite trivial.

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

#276

Post by Smirnoff »

jakubp wrote: post #274
Smirnoff wrote: post #273

I really would like to see Google penalize websites that force you to login after google showed these websites in the results. 1. Take Linkedin for example: you search for a person on google; google shows a linkedin result; you go to linkedin but you are greeted with giant popup asking you to login to view info. Ridiculous. 2. Same with Quora: they come in results with basic info, but when you go to their page, they…

Unfortunately the info typically is on that page, just not complete - and you want more and Google knows it's the way to that information, so results are largely correct, no? If those sites show something else to you than they show to Google Bot, that's against Google's policy and they should be penalized, so I'm assuming they aren't. If energy required to get to the information you need through that path is too much…

Let's take a look at Quora's case. Please do the following:

1. Open your mobile browser.

2. Ask a question on Google and add "quora" so you get some results.

3. Open Quora's result link

4. See that result for a brief second and

5. Be forwarded to registration page, which doesn't have any close or cancel out buttons.

6. Try tapping back and you are back to Google results

7. Curse at Quora and never tap on their results again.

That last point is only for me. There is a choice to register. You are free to choose.

PS: You are right, the information that Google showed/indexed is there on Quora. But for regular people (not Google bots), it's there for a second. IDK about you but I'd place this behavior into dark pattern UX book.

PPS: For people, who don't believe this behavior, you can see the video of my experience on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiOMwRwXLcg

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

#277

Post by GordonS »

thirdsun wrote: post #264
chinhodado wrote: post #95

For me, the most annoying thing while browsing on mobile is the vibration ads/fake alarms. It's horrible. I haven't even seen a single good use of this vibration API, as it is only ever used for things like "Your phone haz virus click here now". Why isn't there an option to disable it in Chrome is beyond me.

Is that an Android thing? I have never experienced this on iOS. I didn't even know browsers could trigger vibration on mobile.

I've never experienced it in my several years as an Android user either!

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

#278

Post by mulmen »

Smirnoff wrote: post #276
jakubp wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately the info typically is on that page, just not complete - and you want more and Google knows it's the way to that information, so results are largely correct, no? If those sites show something else to you than they show to Google Bot, that's against Google's policy and they should be penalized, so I'm assuming they aren't. If energy required to get to the information you need through that path is too much…

Let's take a look at Quora's case. Please do the following: 1. Open your mobile browser. 2. Ask a question on Google and add "quora" so you get some results. 3. Open Quora's result link 4. See that result for a brief second and 5. Be forwarded to registration page, which doesn't have any close or cancel out buttons. 6. Try tapping back and you are back to Google results 7. Curse at Quora and never tap on their result…

For a short(?) but wonderful period of time it was possible to blacklist sites from your Google search results. As I recall Google moved this functionality into the Chrome browser several years ago.

When it was still available as an account setting I used it to filter out the awful "resources" like expertsexchange and that one Oracle consultant site with the hilarious pictures. When I see Quora results I long for that feature to be returned.

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

#279

Post by edwinyzh »

Smirnoff wrote: post #273

I really would like to see Google penalize websites that force you to login after google showed these websites in the results. 1. Take Linkedin for example: you search for a person on google; google shows a linkedin result; you go to linkedin but you are greeted with giant popup asking you to login to view info. Ridiculous. 2. Same with Quora: they come in results with basic info, but when you go to their page, they…

Totally agree! Those kinds of behavior waste time of visitors - when the info is protected by a login, it shouldn't be indexed by search engines in the first place.
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