Google Mobile First Indexing Roll-Out Postponed to March 2021

[engine]

Google has confirmed the September 2020 roll-out completion is now postponed until March 2021 giving more time for webmasters to prepare.

We realize that in these uncertain times, it's not always easy to focus on work as otherwise, so we've decided to extend the timeframe to the end of March 2021. At that time, we're planning on switching our indexing over to mobile-first indexing.

[webmasters.googleblog.com...]

[RedBar]

For the sites that are not yet ready for mobile-first indexing

Ok, I appreciate that for techncal / display reasons some sites cannot go mobile however the rest of them? IMHO it is incredulous that the vast majority of sites are not already mobile-ready.

[Wilburforce]

I'm not sure I understand what this means.

I thought that "Mobile First Indexing" meant that where two versions of a page were available (one for mobile, the other desktop or at least not-mobile), the mobile version would be indexed. Where there is only one version of a page - mobile-friendly or not - Mobile First Indexing should make no difference, as there isn't anything else to index.

I haven't seen anything which clearly explains what will happen to responsive pages, but if it makes any difference I haven't any personal problem with Google indexing the rendered mobile version.

I'm very much reminded of a Goon Show dialogue, which went something like:

"Is this hole deep enough, do you think?"

"Why yes, it looks deep enough to me."

"Well, what is it going to be deep enough for?"

"Now there, you have me!"

In that sense, I can say with some confidence that my site is ready.

[NickMNS]

I thought that "Mobile First Indexing" meant that where two versions of a page were available (one for mobile, the other desktop or at least not-mobile),

The way I understood it, is that the pages are crawled and indexed using mobile user-agent. If your site is responsive or you have a mobile version, that is the version that will be indexed. If on the other hand there is no mobile version of the page then the "desktop" page will be indexed as it appears. At some other point in the "future" Google may decide to recrawl your site using a desktop user agent would then adjust the indexing accordingly if needed.

The "future" is relative, because crawling occurs on an ongoing basis, so more concretely your site will be more frequently crawled by a mobile UA googlebot, and rarely if at all crawled by the desktop UA googlebot.

IMHO it is incredulous that the vast majority of sites are not already mobile-ready.

Fully agree.

[aristotle]

Hmm... I thought that google had already implemented mobile-first indexing a year or two ago. Apparently I'm very confused.

Also, as I've posted here several times in then past, I don't agree with google's decision to adopt mobile-first indexing, whether or not it's already implemented. In my view there should be separate indexes and rankings for both desktop and mobile, with each applied according to the type of device being used.

Note: All of my sites have been responsive for several years, so my view has nothing to do with my own situation. I just think that in making this decision google is abandoning its responsibily to provide the best search results to all users regardless of the type of device is being used.

[tangor]

The push to small devices continues. If you are RWD you're probably good. If you are still using TABLES (egads!) you might be toast.

I wonder how many legacy sites that have remained static, but viable and important (authoritative) since 1996 will "disappear".

We still really don't know what "mobile-first" actually means ... or perhaps there was a memo and I missed it.

[RedBar]

I thought that google had already implemented mobile-first indexing a year or two ago. Apparently I'm very confused.

I have to admit I also thought the same and had to read the blog twice.

I think I started on HTML5 RWD in 2012 and apent two years developing it until I was happy and then from 2014 slowly moved everything over to it.

What I could possibly think may be in Google's mind is the vast majority of global users are on mobile these days. I have a lot of designers and specifiers using my sites but even then the lowest percentage is 40% mobile, the highest I have is 70% and I bet some must have 90+%.

Large detailed images and drawing require large screens, heck I get pdfs so big that I really need a huge cinema screen running 4K minimum however these kind of files were never, ever realistically meant for mobile RWD.

If you are still using TABLES (egads!) you might be toast.

Want some fun?

Put some tables inside html5 code :-)

[ipcamerasurrey]

Yes I thought google's algorithms already working on that

[aristotle]

If you are still using TABLES (egads!) you might be toast.

A lot of very valuable information is presented in tables -- scientific data, economic data, nutritional info, etc.

Don't some mobile browsers have problems displaying tables, as well as other deficiencies compared to the leading desktop browsers?

And doesn't mobile-first indexing mean that the search results are based on what mobile browsers can do? And if so, wouldn't this mean that desktop users will find it more difficult to locate the valuable information presented in tables? And what about problems mobile browsers might have with large high-resolution images?

All of this is why I disagree with google's decision to use mobile-first indexing. Simply put, the search results will be biased against desktop users and make it harder for them to find certain types of information.

[blend27]

IMHO,

It is very nice to see well crafted HTML. Simply awesome sometimes. First thing is 'View Source' when that happens.
------------------------------------------
Most sites, CMS driven, look like a rained on cotton string that has a drip of water just about to take off, want it or not - WE want you to know what your IP address is and we will call API via JS that has long time No More and add an ad with that as you wanted it in a first place - that is a must.

Add improper use of CDN to that. I call it improper when laziness of a 'dev' who sticks 50 refs in a head that have nothing to do what user wants.

It is not what users want, it is devs that want users to must want, something that could be stuck on their CVs as...

And it all started with Ads by Google Ad boxes. In Different colors too.

So you site is not Mobile till Goog quicksteps so.

[blend27]

but viable and important (authoritative) since 1996

I can not stresseseseses this enough: it is a weekly thingy when we are called Geeks, I am doing it now!

[Lexur]

I think Google engineer's mind goes one way and web goes in a different way.

Once everyone understood Google is a private company working for its shareholders, all of those Google widgets (AMP, mobile first, structured data, etc.) are adopted by websites according the interest of its owners (or shareholders); so, if no free traffic from Google, why should they bother about those funny ideas?

[graeme_p]

A lot of very valuable information is presented in tables -- scientific data, economic data, nutritional info, etc.

Don't some mobile browsers have problems displaying tables, as well as other deficiencies compared to the leading desktop browsers?

I think the problems are with using tables for layout (which has been bad practice for a long time) rather than with using tables to present tabular data.

I do not think the problem with tables on mobile is the browser so much as screen size. You need to either limit table width or make them horizontally scrollable.

[graeme_p]

All of this is why I disagree with google's decision to use mobile-first indexing. Simply put, the search results will be biased against desktop users and make it harder for them to find certain types of information.

I was thinking that too. Maybe Google is now not the search engine to use if you are not using a phone, or maybe even if you care more about the information than presentation.

[JAB Creations]

Mobile last.

There are few things as annoying as a "mobile first" website on a 2560x1440 screen.

Either the amateurs need to learn how to use CSS media queries or find another profession.

Desktop first, media queries second.

John

[graeme_p]

@JAB_Creations It is annoying. Its not really "mobile first", its more "mobile only"

What "mobile" first is supposed to mean is that you do the media queries the other way round, maybe load more content on a desktop etc. However done, it should provide progressive enhancement.

I agree they need to learn to do it properly.

[mcneely]

If you are RWD you're probably good. If you are still using TABLES (egads!) you might be toast.

EGADS! is right.

Tables, for whatever it might be worth, might still be an option for the coding impaired if "px" was replaced with "%" -- still may not view well however, but at least it might keep phone users from having to scroll from side to side.

The only reason I can find as to why google might be putting off the completion of mobile first indexing is that some of google's buddies that have big sites might not be ready in time. There are still a lot of big players out there that have multitudes of tables writers on staff, and have put off hiring the more expensive RWD writers.

[Perspectivator]

Workplaces are still Desktop first. Walk into any office and look around. This means that the humongous world of B2B websites should be optimized for Desktop viewing from any perspective including SEO. It's unfathomable that google enforces a one size fits all policy here.

[RedBar]

the humongous world of B2B websites should be optimized for Desktop

My global sites are all B2B and 50% of PVs are on mobile.

What I do not understand is why so many sites are not compatible with both mobile and desktop. All my sites work across all devices providing the same information, I'm absolutely sure that I'm not the only one who does this.

And don't say I am using something new, I started developing mine in 2012 ... are there a lot of extremely lazy or incapable developers out there in some widget sectors? Certainbly not in mine, almost every B2B site is cross-device usable.

[mcneely]

one size fits all policy

Google exists in a bubble, in that it scores the internet on how it views it from their local perspective. For example; We use iPad, so everybody else uses iPad.
If everyone at Google is constantly fiddling with their phone, it's just automatically assumed that everyone else is fiddling with their phone.

Google is going to adjust their internet world to suit them ... whatever is easiest for them and how they do things. It's never really ever been about the internet as a whole, but more about Google and it's self perceived authority.

It's an easy rut to get into.

Desktop rules the day here, and if I happen to lose my phone for a bit, I don't get all freaked out about it ... On the other side of this, I have clients that use their phone for everything. They even log in to the server to make minor adjustments to their hosting or sites (which I really don't recommend) and in most cases, I have to go in (on my desktop) and fix whatever it was they screwed up.

Another for instance here ... I don't write RWD because Google said so. I write RWD because to do anything else would only mean more work for me. There's a faster turn-around with RWD and in this business, the quicker the turn-around, the quicker you get paid.

Over the past 5 years I've noticed a marked increase in rhetoric coming out of Google of the type that attempts to keep Google relevant in this day and age of Facebook and Twitter. Google can instruct, cajole, and persuade all it wants, but at the end of the day, it's just the internet. Developers are going to write for their clients Google be damned, and Google knows it, but yet here we are. Discussing just one more thing on the internet ... phones. Phones aren't going to rule the internet. There's a place on the internet for phones, but phones aren't the magnificent end-all that Google might expect you to believe.

RWD is pretty much the end-all for any device that currently exists on the net, including phones. A device doesn't rule the day anywhere or at anytime ... it's the writes that rule the day and right now, it's RWD. We'll keep writing RWD until something else comes along that might otherwise prove itself superior.

[RedBar]

Phones aren't going to rule the internet.

You really do not know what's going on in the world do you?

As everyone knows I am not a Google defender however in this case Google has reacted to what billions, yes billions, of users are using every day to do everything. I'm not simply talking about kids I am referring to the billions of Chinese and Indians alone whose only Net connectivity is mobile, period.

That's what influenced G in this respect however if you don't want to believe me, that's fine, I'll continue serving my customers the way that they want with the full knowledge that I know precisely what they are experiencing and not just hoping they do.

[aristotle]

As I said previously, the obvious solution is to have two separate sets of search results, one for mobile and one for desktop users. Don't tell me that google doesn't have the resources to be able to do this.

By the way, whatever happened to the personalized search results that google has touted for all these years? How can you call it "personization" when you show desktop users results generated for mobile devices?

[EditorialGuy]

As I said previously, the obvious solution is to have two separate sets of search results, one for mobile and one for desktop users.

Two thoughts:

1) There' s no one "mobile." Mobile devices vary hugely in size, screen resolution, etc., and connection speeds vary even more.

2) Not all desktop pages are viewed at full screen width. (In fact, well-designed Web sites limit page width, or at least the width of text columns, to improve readability.)

By the way, whatever happened to the personalized search results that google has touted for all these years? How can you call it "personization" when you show desktop users results generated for mobile devices?

Search results and the user interface are two different things.

[mcneely]

You really do not know what's going on in the world do you?

I know enough to know that, at least in my business, writing for "only" one device is not as profitable as writing for all devices is. There are of course, those who aren't diversified, or experienced enough to write for all devices, so they're fine with what they are able to do.

In the development world, phones are to the internet, what motorcycles are to the roadway. If everybody suddenly started riding motorcycles, we would still have to build and maintain the roadways. The internet doesn't just suddenly change because someone decides to use a phone ... quite the contrary ... phones enhance or otherwise compliment the internet ... the internet incorporates builds into itself to accommodate those phones. No "one" device is going to rule the net, unless of course, you choose to let it. Building for, or otherwise allowing only one device to drive the course of your web development strategy can only serve to diminish your potential company profitability.

Google cares less about phones than it does about it's advertising dollars. Money is the end game with Google and it's going to glorify any device that facilitates that end.
Every web developer, at the end of the day, should ask his or herself this question ... "Am I building for Google's business, or am I building for my own?"
Developing for phones solely without making the billions of dollars a year to accompany those builds is a pointless endeavour. Nobody can exploit a device quite like Google can, and if Google can convince the web development masses to write for phones exclusively, then Googles job is finished ... Google pats itself on the back all the way to the bank, whilst Devs sit back wondering how they'll pay the rent. Phones only rule the net in Googles world. In the real world, however, no one device can rule as long as we profit writing for all devices. Phones have their place, and money can be made writing for them .... but phones are just a portion of the over all bottom line.

If I wrote for phones exclusively, I would be totally broke by next week at 2 o'clock.

[Wilburforce]

however in this case Google has reacted to what billions, yes billions, of users are using every day to do everything.

Actually,

1. I am not one of them, and
2. Billions (yes, billions, myself among them) of users are using desktop computers every day to do everything.

Mobile has not that long ago overtaken desktop for internet usage, and comparative use has been pretty much unchanged (Mobile 50.13% vs Desktop 47.06% in June 2020) in the last 12 months. One might argue, also, that Google - with Android as its obvious interest in the mobile market - isn't reacting to but actively promoting the move to mobile, without having yet succeeded in getting desktop (and laptop) users to abandon their stations. While (disregarding Covid-19 for the moment) billions of people may use their phones every day when they are are away from home or office, I have yet to witness a single office worker use a mobile phone as their primary interface, and the stats tell us that these are in pretty much the same number of billions as mobile users.