If you're like me you hate it when you have to scroll down endlessly on a webpage for that piece of content that you were searching for. I expect the important content that I am looking for to be at the top of the webpage, above the page fold yet many sites have adverts and other worthless info here. Well now Google has picked up on this and have made an algorithm change to counter this. It's another step in the right direction in Google's quest to make the web as user-friendly as possible.
Many sites out there are in existence to make money and one of the most common ways to do this is through advertising, mainly using Google's AdSense model. Google understands this, especially as it is thanks to advertising that Google has become the internet giant that it is, however there are sites that go overboard in this respect with big blocks of ads above the fold. Google say that less that 1% of searches will be noticeably be affected by this algorithm change, but webmasters and designers alike should take note of this. Using this method of adverts first and content later could negatively affect a website's Search Engine Optimization efforts.
Google stated that webmasters who believed that their website was negatively affected by this should consider how the website uses the above-the-fold area and whether the content on the page is hidden or otherwise hard for users to read quickly. The type of device used to view the website is also a factor, webmasters are encouraged to use Google's Browser Size tool to see how their website is viewed on screens of different sizes and resolutions. A webpage's content might be easily accessible on a PC, but hidden on a mobile device. With tablets and smart-phones being so popular nowadays, overlooking this aspect is not recommended.
It's ironic that Google is basically penalising these sites for issues relating to advertising on webpages, especially since their business model revolves around advertising. The best advice is to keep the advertising near the bottom and the sides of the webpage and the content near the top. This will also help the Googlebot read / index your website quicker. This is just one of the 500+ changes that Google promises to make in 2012 to their algorithm all in the name of making the web a friendlier, easier place to be.
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