Google to downplay mobile websites with annoying pop-ups

Pop-ups are undoubtedly annoying and irritating. Sometimes, when you are forced to subscribe before even seeing a word on a website, only to realize later that it wasn’t what you were looking for, the experience could be quite frustrating. Google wants to fix this.

As of January 10th, 2017, Google’s mobile search results will downplay sites with "intrusive" interstitials and pop-ups. It'll accept content that asks for necessary info or takes up a "reasonable" amount of space (such as the app install banners in Android or iOS), but "click to continue" pop-ups and first-party sales pitches won't get Google's favor.

Importantly, the downplaying won’t be without bias. The tech giant says that high-quality site might still rank well even with those irksome pop-ups though it might persuade some sites to tone down their in-your-face marketing and focus on the content on is searching for.

Let’s hope that all the websites that are currently a store house of bothersome pop-ups might soon become less annoying and more content oriented.