Google Mobile Algo - April 2015 Roll Out

[keyplyr]

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System: The following message was cut out of thread at: http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4743698.htm [webmasterworld.com] by robert_charlton - 3:18 am on Apr 21, 2015 (PDT -8)

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Different DataCenters probably, but I'm seeing new SERP for everything I search for... that I'm familiar enough with to notice a change. So Cal

[RedBar]

Press F12 and the mobile-icon in upper left, and select a smartphone model of your choice.

That's an emulator, I want to see Google results with this so-called "mobile-friendly" other than on my friend's M8.

[rainborick]

That's the point. Using the smartphone emulator in the Developers Tools in the desktop version of Chrome gives you a simple way to see the effects of the algorithm change. If the "Mobile-Friendly" label appears in the snippets, then Q.E.D. you *are* seeing what Google is serving to smartphone users because they *only* show the label to those users.

[Wilburforce]

If the "Mobile-Friendly" label appears in the snippets

It doesn't yet in my case (UK). Presumably I am still seeing Desktop results (which is certainly what it looks like).

If I could use the emulator AND select different DCs....

[piatkow]

I don't see the "mobile friendly" label when using my Samsung phone in the UK but mobile and desktop SERPs are definitely different. I am away from home using a friend's PC so I haven't had the opportunity to check through GWT or Chrome.

As an aside checking some of the results in a music related search I found that sites created by oldies like myself seemed to be more responsive that the ones created by young hipsters!

[Broadway]

In terms of a traffic boost (as a result of the mobile friendly algo), I'm assuming that since it's pretty obvious that Google is throttling my traffic (less than .1% change in traffic on corresponding days week vs week), I won't see any gain anyway.

[EditorialGuy]

I get the "mobile-friendly" label on a small-screen iOS device (iPod Touch 4gen). It's subtle--I wish Google would use a brighter color, as it does for ads--but it's there.

Interestingly, for the search query that I just entered, our pages get the top two slots, followed by a Google Knowledge Graph box and then Wikipedia. (In other words, the KG box is less prominent in mobile search than in desktop/laptop/tablet search.)

[keyplyr]

Interestingly, for the search query that I just entered, our pages get the top two slots

Seeing this a lot for my site as well. Various pages of mine now have the top 2 positions for a dozen search terms. Hope it stays this way, but I'm sure it won't. Probably just the index populating the SERP with sites already mobile-friendly. As this number increases, it should dilute quite a bit. Just to be sure, I keep clearing cache/history in my mobile browser, but still get this pleasant anomaly.

[EditorialGuy]

What I found interesting wasn't our ranking in the top two spots (though I'm certainly not complaining). It was the fact that Google's Knowledge Graph Box was in third place. That probably isn't anything new, but I don't use mobile search much, so it was a pleasant surprise to me.

[keyplyr]

Well then you ought to find this even more interesting... I have not seen the Knowledge Graph in Google mobile SERP from my phone, not once.

Maybe a regional thing? Screen size/resolution? I do use a smaller screen size phone compared to many nowadays (4.3 " w/ 540 x 960 px res)

[EditorialGuy]

Maybe it's regional, or maybe it's just the query. (I was using a device with a tiny 320 x 480, 3-1/2" screen.)

[kewlchat]

Traffic started to drop the night of the 20th droped for 3 or 4 days, to an all time low.
Then started to climb, still climbing now, at an all time high from creation of the website..

On my best site conversions are double what they were yesterday. I hope it lasts.

[olias]

I'm in the UK watching a local search sector. My site is mobile friendly, biggest competitor is not.

I have a handful of searches I'm keeping an eye on but still seeing no changes in any of them. I've looked at my actual visits from mobile users and am detecting no significant change, all well within usual numbers.

Just decided to look at Webmaster Tools searches report and restrict in to Mobile searches in the last week, then ordered that by queries where my site has changes position. I've made very small gains in about 5% of searches. Of those about half of the ones I've looked at appear to be to do with mobile search specifically - as in I'm seeing different results for mobile and desktop.

One thing I'm noticing so far is that when my big non mobile friendly competitor is top they tend to be keeping that position but in cases where they are 4th or lower on desktop search they often drop to 11th or lower on mobile search.

Hope this helps others trying to find any sign of this rollout!

[RedBar]

My two biggest sites have been hit, both are non-responsive, site one is now at 85.3% and site two 80.0% of previous April PV averages.

Site two will be upgraded however I will not be able to make a direct PVs comparison since the image presentation will be completely different.

Site one I really cannot decide about, there is 17 yearsworth of stuff, some is easy to convert, much of it would be very time-consuming. If it earned a lot of AdSense money, no brainer, however it doesn't therefore probably yet another loss of information for The Net.

[Anon]

Finding absolutely zero change in Australia on variously different keywords

[martaay]

Across 5 big client websites, 3 are currently non-mobile friendly, 2 responsive - 1 non friendly site is up and no change in traffic for any of the others so far, uk based

[DirigoDev]

I reported April 23 (page 5 of this thread) that I had seen no change on my information/e-commerce site. This is a non-Mobile site. As of this morning Mobile traffic which accounts for 66.25% of the million uniques is down by roughly 28% over the past 7 days. Rankings as reported by GWT are all off - a sea of lost SERPs positions. This is a significant change.

I have my Google signal - time to go mobile friendly. I won't be ready for about two more weeks. So I'll continue to track the negative change and also measure the positive change once I'm mobile friendly.

[trinorthlighting]

Been quite some time since I have posted on WBW, but anyways, we went all mobile a few months ago and the only real increase we have seen has been from adwords traffic. Adwords PPC is sending us a lot of mobile traffic these days (20% increase) so if you use adwords you may want to peel that data away. Organic mobile traffic has actually went down for us this past week for our websites.

[Jez123]

I am seeing 1 very minor gain in desktop v mobile rankings. My site is mobile friendly but if anything my positions have dropped or remained the same. Traffic has definitely dropped since the update started (though too soon to tell if that's a long term loss). Not exactly spectacular so far.

[Baby_Moos]

My keyphrases didn't budge til yesterday when I dropped slightly 2 places on 2 keyphrases, minor uplifts in others, however desktop & phone SERPS still the same, today I've been seeing either no traffic or big numbers of traffic, nothing in between

UK ecom niche

edited to add, I should have mentioned I've been responsive for 2+ years

[dethfire]

Got a friend who runs a big chemistry website and not one page is mobile friendly. His stats are unchanged.

[cabbie]

I have mobile friendly and unfriendly sites and no changes in either for me

[ferfer]

At least in Latin America, the impact in the whole week vs the past week, and yesterday vs 7 days ago is the following for a mobile friendly and for an unfriendly site (big ones): Zero.

[EditorialGuy]

I'm reminded of the Wendy's advertising catchphrase from the early 1980s (later borrowed by Walter Mondale in a U.S. political campaign):

"Where's the beef?"

[keyplyr]

If you compare, side by side, desktop SERP to mobile SERP the difference is huge... depending on your niche & datacenter.

It's this artificially created hype that is the let down.

[ferfer]

SERPs where different before too. But that's because browsing history may be different at devices and affects results, and because location awareness works different and affects SEPRs. Your point even if my explanation does not convince you is not a proof, you should proove that mobile SERPs are very different than a week ago, a HUGE difference, that I'm not seeing yet.

Even the ones reporting traffic changes are so small that fits in "other reasons" for the cause, looks as the same that report big changes even when no announcements exist.

[guggi2000]

We are not a "local" business and we have good traffic from the US and Western Europe. Zero change by now. That means that either the algorithm did not have an impact or the rollout was not completed in any of those DCs.

[keyplyr]

@ferfer - I don't "need to prove" anything. Remember where you are. This is a discussion. As always, YMMV.

I would not do a comparison without clearing history/cookies and making sure I was logged out. Obviously you aren't seeing the same results, why would you. Results will vary depending on many factors. Just because you don't see what I do means nothing.

[enchant]

Well, it's been a week and still nothing in Boston. I'm searching with my phone, and mobile friendly sites do not have the "mobile friendly" tag next to the results. Nor are there any changes in the result order. Has Google said when they're going to be done?

I can't believe that a week ago, I was refreshing my browser every fifteen minutes, waiting for the changeover.

[Nutterum]

I honestly can not believe that there as so many people blindly holding hostage the phrase "the update will roll for a week" . If Google is syphoning the entire internet through this update, some niches will be lucky if they see changes on the mobile serps in a month. Also let's not forget that no one in Google confirmed(or denied for that matter) how heavy the mobile factor will be compared to relevancy and trust.

I for one believe that the mobilegeddon is a giant dud and the changes will be felt between 3 to 6 months, when people can compare larger sets of data.

[guggi2000]

@Nutterum Why 3-6 months? Remember, this is a per page algorithm so one should be able to see it as soon as it is a ranking signal.