How Google is punishing sites that use pop-up ads

24 August 2016
Google logo clean

Google is about to deal a blow to the web’s pop-up and interstitial advertisements, reports The Verge.

It has begun ranking those who use the annoying advertisements lower in in its search rankings, in the hopes that the decrease in site traffic will stop website owners from resorting to these types of ads.

If a site is still regarded to be the best source it will still appear first, but those that are regarded as secondary or equivalent with another site that doesn’t feature pop-ups will now rank lower.

“Google’s intention is to not just direct people to more informative results, but to results that work better for them — e.g., don’t annoy them with a pop-up — too.”

“This is something Google has increasingly been doing with its search algorithm. Last year it began boosting the rank of “mobile friendly” websites, and in 2014, it began boosting the rank of sites with encryption as well”.

These changes will come into effect on 10 January 2017.


More gaming news

The cheapest places to buy graphics cards in South Africa – pricing comparison

7 ultra-advanced gadgets for PC gamers

What the PlayStation Plus price increase means for South African gamers

You have read 3 out of 5 free articles. Log in or register for unlimited access.
  1. Johan Lewis Last
    24.08.2016 at 09:59

    Yay, finally. I freaken hate it when I load a page, just start to read or scroll down to read further….then a popup appears..in my face…grrrrrrr.

Read now

The best gaming website in South Africa
MyGaming proudly displays the “FAIR” stamp of the Press Council of South Africa, indicating our commitment to adhere to the Code of Ethics for Print and online media which prescribes that our reportage is truthful, accurate and fair. Should you wish to lodge a complaint about our news coverage, please lodge a complaint on the Press Council’s website, www.presscouncil.org.za or email the complaint to [email protected] Contact the Press Council on 011 4843612.