Google has updated its mobile-friendliness ranking algorithm to penalise websites that have giant interstitial adverts for apps.
Interstitial adverts are those which pop up after a user has clicked on a link in the search results but before the page loads.
Large interstitial adverts for apps, which cover a significant amount of content on the page, will now be deemed mobile-unfriendly and result in the website having a lower ranking in the search results.
Google has given advice to webmasters worried about large interstitial adverts on their sites, saying: “Instead of full page interstitials, we recommend that webmasters use more user-friendly formats such as app install banners. We hope that this change will make it easier for searchers to see the content of the pages they are looking for.”Â