Skip to main content

Google shows love to mobile-friendly sites, pushes them up search results from today

A significant change to the way Google ranks search results on smartphones takes effect today, a move which’ll hit businesses that still haven’t gotten around to making their websites mobile friendly.

With more and more people using their smartphone rather than a PC to browse the Web , the Mountain View company has decided to start prioritizing sites that have been optimized for mobile over those that haven’t. Searches made on tablets and PCs are not affected by the changes.

Recommended Videos

Google started labeling sites as mobile-friendly toward the end of last year, but held back from prioritizing them until it’d publicized the plan more widely. The new algorithm affects mobile searches in all languages worldwide, the company said recently, and will have a “significant impact” on the way search results are listed.

It added, “Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

The Web giant says it considers a site as mobile friendly if, for example, it contains text that can be read comfortably without having to zoom. It must also fit properly with the display so you don’t have to scroll across the screen to find the rest of the sentence or additional content, and avoidmobile-friendly software that isn’t common on the majority of mobile devices (eg. Flash).

While mobile users of Google search will surely be happy with today’s development, businesses without a mobile-optimized website and who remain unaware of the changes will be left wondering where on earth their site’s disappeared to in Google’s revamped search listings (hint: it’s probably beyond page 20 now).

Website owners and designers can find out if their site meets Google’s mobile-friendly criteria by hitting this page and entering its URL. If it does, you’ll be given the nod, and a small “mobile friendly” label will appear alongside your site’s name in mobile search results.

If it doesn’t, you’d better make some changes sharpish.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Nothing Phone 3 will be a true flagship and that means iPhone money
Nothing Phone 3a

The Nothing Phone 3 is set to launch this summer. Now, we have some indication of its price, and yes, it will cost you.

Android Authority explains that CEO Carl Pei has confirmed that the Nothing Phone 3 will be the company’s “first true flagship smartphone.” As such, it will have a flagship price: approximately 800 pounds or nearly $1,000. The Nothing Phone 2 was priced at between $599 and $799, which would be a significant increase.

Read more
This Android update could stop your phone being stolen
Android 16 logo on Google Pixel 6a standing on a table.

Google wants to make Android phones more secure from thieves and this new update may do exactly that.

Google has announced that it is working to offer enhanced factory reset protections on Android phones from later this year.

Read more
Apple Maps will now help you dine at the finest with a side of golfing
Details of a Michelin star food outlet in Apple Maps.

If you’ve ever felt like dining at only the crème de la crème of food establishments in your neighborhood, Apple Maps just built the right system for you. And to go with it, if you’re in the mood for some calorie burnout through golf, the service got you covered on that front, too.

Apple has inked a deal with MICHELIN Guide and The Infatuation that will let users find and get insights about Michelin-starred restaurants on the mapping and navigation platform. “Users can now view and search for MICHELIN-starred, Green Star, and Bib Gourmand restaurants — along with MICHELIN Key hotels — starting in the U.S,” says the company.

Read more