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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

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually rate one star when an app I'm using tries to force me to review when I'm in the middle of trying to use it.

Generally that survey result get discarded; one big trick used by many apps is to have surveys that distract you away from leaving negative results in the appstore or other places where the survey result actually counts.

I'm not sure I understand, they proxy the reviews?

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

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Definitely.

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

#283
post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Here's the thing: I don't care. You will care when nobody's in the business of providing hotel/restaurant/etc reviews...except Google.

If google does a good eough job, then may be i will continue not to care?

Google has tried repeatedly to challenge Yelp. Every attempt fails, but they insist on hurting Yelp and businesses like it that have provided value over many years. This goes back to Larry asking his teams to answer the users' query on the Google landing page. He wants the entire users' session to be in Google products. These companies are as much at fault for relying on Google so heavily. Google is as much as fault for taking on companies with established products and histories. Google should look to new markets instead of cannibalizing its search business for short term gain.

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

#284
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…

I do not see steps 4-7. After 3, I stay on that page. Sometimes in the past I would see an overlay on that page. I don't get redirected anywhere, and I'm 100% sure I never was (there was only popup). I wonder where's the discrepancy coming from.

Also, google bot would be redirected too, unless of course it's simply logged in :)

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

#286
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…

Theoretically 6 & 7 should be a big red flag (the biggest possible UX red flag) to Google regarding the specific Quora page visited - I know that I almost never see Quora results in search, for example.

Following Bartosz Goralewicz's post about how well botting works to manipulate Google in...2014 I think? there's a small black hat industry that's sprung up around imitating this kind of user reaction, and it does reportedly work to remove pages from Google. I've had my suspicions that it's been used against sites I've worked on a few times (2 or 3).

TL:DR; Quora should generally not be ranking so well (but Google's complex enough to be unpredictable on a page-by-page basis these days).

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

#287
post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I do not see steps 4-7. After 3, I stay on that page. Sometimes in the past I would see an overlay on that page. I don't get redirected anywhere, and I'm 100% sure I never was (there was only popup). I wonder where's the discrepancy coming from. Also, google bot would be redirected too, unless of course it's simply logged in :)

I could make lots of guesses why you don't experience Quora the same way I do. None of that would change the fact that I can't see the information I am being promised to see on Google.

Here is a screenshot of the page I am being forwarded to automatically: http://pho.to/Aatuj

It is a disguised register page because after you make 10 selections, you are forced to sign up.

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

#288
post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally that survey result get discarded; one big trick used by many apps is to have surveys that distract you away from leaving negative results in the appstore or other places where the survey result actually counts.

I'm not sure I understand, they proxy the reviews?

Seen it a few times, although not so much recently... An app would pop up a rating dialog, asking you to give it 1-5 stars. If you chose 5 stars, it would send you on to the Play Store to leave your rating - if you chose 1-4, it would instead give you an in-app feedback form. They couldn't force you to actually leave a 5 star rating, but it was pretty dodgy anyway.

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

#289

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…

Google is supposed to be penalizing sites that aren't mobile-friendly.

So why aren't they burying sites that DISABLE ZOOMING?

There's no excuse for disabling crucial browser functionality that has been standard for almost a decade.

Oh wait: That's because Google is a bunch of hypocrites. They disable zooming on THEIR OWN MOBILE SITES, making them distinctly mobile-UNFRIENDLY.

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

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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