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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

#321

Post by nommm-nommm »

Smirnoff wrote: post #306
nommm-nommm wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because you seem to be halfway through making an account and they want you to finish. The actual behavior of Quora, if you aren't midway through account signup is: if you go through Google search it shows you the page promised. If, from that page, you click on another question it will open the second question but give you the sign up modal. You can bypass a signup modal and get the normal page by appending ?sh…

Please see the posted video above. It's very clear how Quora forwards me to sign up page right after I open the link on Google. I never tapped on anything after I got to that page. The behavior that you guys are suggesting is mostly how it works on Desktop computers. Try searching for the same on Mobile phones. PS: Also, do you really expect users to alter the link on tiny mobile screens?

I saw your video. It looks like you are in the middle of a, probably accidental, new account signup. Maybe you let your kid use your phone weeks ago and she did it. If you clear your cookies then you should get the behavior above.

I don't "expect" users to do anything, I was sharing a known workaround in case anyone was interested.

EDIT: I just created an account to see what happens. You are logged into a new account. Maybe you accidentally logged in with Google?

I created a new account with a fake name and email. No email verification. After the fake name and email is entered they ask you to follow topics (which is the screenshot you are seeing) and once you pick 10 your account is "complete" and they will let you look at the answer.

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

#322

Post by yann63 »

jrockway wrote: post #76
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 usually considered a big mistake in retail. Is it? Grocery stores keep essentials far away from each other so you have to walk past stuff you don't want in order to get to what you want. Imagine a store where they had milk at the checkout counter! That's the retail equivalent of amazon.com ;)

Milk? That's funny. Here in France, it's drinks and wine ;-) But most of the milk sold here is pasteurized, so not kept in fridge (only once opened).

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

#323

Post by Spooky23 »

throwaway1892 wrote: post #311
Spooky23 wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the one that comes to mind. http://www.dba-oracle.com/

I remember that one because of the offer to learn Oracle during a cruise, complete with the important part "Convince the boss" : http://www.dba-oracle.com/BC_cruise.htm

Unfortunately, the thing that stuck in my head was "redneck philosophy".

http://www.dba-oracle.com/redneck.htm

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

#324

Post by Spooky23 »

Shog9 wrote: post #237
Spooky23 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. Google has a long and storied history (since Dejanews) of fucking up user generated content on google properties. If you're looking for restaurants and hotels, TripAdvisor and Yelp are exponentially better than anything Google is going to give you.

That's the kicker though: how bad is "good enough"? If I ask Google for a donut shop and can pick the one that has devil's food chocolate donuts, who cares if Yelp would've given me better reviews; the basic information is there in front of me, and I don't have to install an app or deal with popups. I stopped using Yelp the minute they made their mobile site unusable in a pinch while pulled over on the side of the ro…

80% of my searches for this sort of thing is when I'm traveling. If I'm looking for food/lodging, I want the best possible option.

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

#326

Post by nommm-nommm »

Spooky23 wrote: post #303
jjgreen wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a link for the Oracle consultant site? I'm intrigued ..

This is the one that comes to mind. http://www.dba-oracle.com/

Huh, that site has always been helpful to me.

For example, I just searched for a random ORA-number error and got this in the results: http://dba-oracle.com/t_ora_12514_tns_listener_does_not_curr...

That looks useful, no?

I admit, I've never gone to that site directly or clicked any links only ever saw what showed up on my search results.

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

#327

Post by nhumrich »

While I applaud Google for doing this, it's also very scary that Google has that much power that they can basically make anyone on the web do anything by threatening ranking blackmail. Google is starting to use more grey area tactics to control things (such as disabling accounts for those who resold a pixel). Makes me start to actually worry about the power Google has.

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

#328

Post by Rezo »

RRL wrote: post #283
chii wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I think Google has just recently reached a "good enough" state for Yelp like use-cases, while Yelp has simultaneously declined, that I'm nowadays more likely to just use Google.

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

#329

Post by eof »

nine_k wrote: post #199
ajmurmann wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I wouldn't pay a lot, but I would definitely pay.

like a buck or two a month billed anually I would buy without hesitation if I believed it had real value.

I usually search github directly now for these things, and it works decently well; either finding the code in the repo to which it belongs or better yet, an issue addressed by the developer.

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

#330

Post by macNchz »

asdfasdfa11112 wrote: post #241
Spooky23 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They take a fixed fee per ticket. It's a good model. Like most ticketing operations, they've built a niche monopoly. If you want to buy tickets online, they are usually the only game in town. If the obnoxious ads annoy you, their attitude is basically "fuck you, drive to the mall and miss your movie".

This is called a "moat". Build it for your company, it's a good thing for an entrepreneur. To be significantly successful, you need to stop thinking this way. Start thinking about what benefits you & your company. It may seem like contempt for the consumer, and perhaps it is. But it's also possible the consumer is irrational and you can benefit in the short and long term. I work in marketing, and have seen scant evid…

I have seen this "we can't measure branding but we can measure conversion rates so let's optimize optimize optimize" approach borne out to create some of the worst websites. High converting, surely, but spammy, ugly, constantly trying to jam you into the funnel, full of dark patterns etc. Usually utterly forgettable, but often memorable for how crappy the experience is.

In my experience companies that do this are thinking very short term: how many people can we get through our funnel this month and how much money can we make from them? Yes it's hard to measure 'long term harm', but to assume it doesn't exist because it can't be directly measured makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot.

To me it is worth aspiring to be respected as a business. Obviously not to the point of letting your business fail because you obsessed over branding while nobody actually bought your product, but as a larger goal. A business that tries to squeeze customers for all it can and achieves grudging acceptance isn't something I aspire to be a part of.

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