Google’s mobile search results now come with helpful ‘mobile-friendly’ label
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Google search page is reflected in sunglasses in this photo illustration taken in Brussels May 30, 2014. Google has taken the first steps to meet a European ruling that citizens can have objectionable links removed from Internet search results, a ruling that pleased privacy campaigners but raised fears that the right can be abused to hide negative information. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (BELGIUM - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTR3RK9G (REUTERS/Francois Lenoir)
It may not be the biggest issue facing you on a daily basis, but it’s still annoying whenever you’re using your smartphone and you land on a webpage that requires all sorts of finger-based acrobatics in order to view it. Most of the time you probably just give up.
In a bid to overcome the problem of landing on websites that haven’t yet been optimized for mobile, Google is rolling out a new label (shown below) in its search results letting you know if the site you want to visit is mobile friendly.
Google’s idea of what constitutes a mobile-friendly site includes those that avoid software that isn’t common on the majority of mobile devices (eg. Flash), ones that contain text you can comfortably read without having to zoom, and sites that fit properly with the display so you don’t have to scroll across the screen to find the rest of the sentence or other content.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Related: 36 awesome Google search tips and tricks
Ah, and here’s a good one – Google describes a mobile-friendly site as one where links are placed far enough apart so that you’ve got a more-than-reasonable chance of tapping the one you actually want to visit.
If you’re a web designer, Google has launched a special page where you can enter your URL to test if your site meets its criteria and can therefore be awarded its new label.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Web giant says it’s also experimenting with pushing mobile-optimized sites higher up search listings for those using smartphones and tablets.
The new feature is rolling out globally over the next few weeks, so for those who don’t see the label showing, you’ll just have to continue hoping for the best….
[Source: Google]