Page 15 - MARRIOT April 21, 2015

TECHNOLOGY A23
Tuesday 21 April 2015

Google shaking up search recommendations on smartphones

MICHAEL LIEDTKE In this Tuesday, March 23, 2010, file photo, the Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Brussels.
AP Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Associated Press
Google is about to change
the way its influential search pening and why Google is for information. in 2011 and 2012, focused to determine the rankings
engine recommends web- doing it. The number of mobile on an attempt to weed of its results. One of the most
sites on smartphones in a MAKING MOBILE FRIENDS searches in the U.S. is rising out misleading websites important considerations
shift that’s expected to To stay in Google’s good by about 5 percent while and other digital rubbish. has always been whether a
sway where millions of peo- graces, websites must be inquiries on PCs are dipping Although that goal sounds site contains the most perti-
ple shop, eat and find infor- designed so they load slightly, according to re- reasonable, many web- nent information sought by
mation. quickly on mobile devices. search firm comScore Inc. sites still complained that a search request.
The revised formula, sched- Content must also be eas- In the final three months Google’s changes unfairly But new pecking order in
uled to be released Tues- ily accessible by scrolling of last year, 29 percent of demoted them in the rank- Google’s mobile search
day, will favor websites that up and down — without all U.S. search requests — ings, making their content may relegate some sites
Google defines as “mobile- having to also swipe to the about 18.5 billion — were more difficult to find. to the back pages of the
friendly.” Websites that left or right. It also helps if made on mobile devic- STILL CAUGHT OFF GUARD search results, even if their
don’t fit the description will all buttons for making pur- es, comScore estimated. While most major mer- content is more relevant to
be demoted in Google’s chases or taking other ac- Google processes the bulk chants and big companies a search request than oth-
search results on smart- tions on the website can be of searches — two-thirds in already have websites like- er sites that happen to be
phones while those meet- easily seen and touched the U.S. and even more in ly to meet Google’s mobile easier to access on smart-
ing the criteria will be more on smaller screens. many other countries. standard, the new formula phones. That will be an un-
likely to appear at the top If a website has been de- BRACING FOR CHANGE threatens to hurt millions fortunate consequence,
of the rankings — a prized signed only with PC users To minimize complaints, of small businesses that but also justifiable because
position that can trans- in mind, the graphics take the company disclosed its haven’t had the money a person might not even
late into more visitors and longer to load on smart- plans nearly two months or incentive to adapt their bother to look at sites that
money. Although Google’s phones and the columns ago. It also created a step- sites for smartphones. take a long time to open or
new formula won’t affect of text don’t all fit on the by-step guide (http://bit. “A lot of small sites haven’t difficult to read on mobile
searches on desktop and smaller screens, to the ag- ly/1GyC0Id ) and a tool to really had a reason to be devices, Gartner analyst
laptop computers, it will gravation of someone try- test compliance with the mobile friendly until now, Whit Andrews said.
have a huge influence on ing to read it. new standards (http://bit. and it’s not going to be “Availability is part of rel-
how and where people Google has been urging ly/1EVi9R3 ). easy for them to make the evancy,” Andrews said. “A
spend their money, given websites to cater to mobile Google has faced uproar changes,” McGee said. lot of people aren’t going
that more people are rely- device for years, mainly be- over past changes to its BURYING HELPFUL CONTENT to think something is rele-
ing on their smartphones to cause that is where people search formula. Two of Google’s search formula vant if they can’t get it to
compare products in stores are increasingly searching the bigger revisions, done weighs a variety of factors appear on their iPhone.”q
and look for restaurants.
That’s why Google’s new
rating system is being billed
by some search experts as
“Mobile-geddon.”
“Some sites are going to be
in for a big surprise when
they find a drastic change
in the amount of people
visiting them from mobile
devices,” said Itai Sadan,
CEO of website-building
service Duda.
It’s probably the most signif-
icant change that Google
Inc. has ever made to its
mobile search rankings,
according to Matt McGee,
editor-in-chief for Search
Engine Land, a trade pub-
lication that follows every
tweak that the company
makes to its closely guard-
ed algorithms.
Here are a few things to
know about what’s hap-