New Google Algorithm:
News was out that Google was going in for a new Google Algorithm change to rank websites. Google was particularly looking out for websites displaying ads “above the fold”, a place where CT+R is often high and which is the most paying spot for publishers. However news had been coming in since November of a new Google Algorithm to punish (okay, not punish, but we hate the stuff. Read on to know what I am talking about) webmasters for whom displaying ads was a primary concern and content was secondary. However last week, putting all speculations to rest, the new Google Algorithm was officially released as “Page Layout” updates, which look at the layout of the page and its content once you click on a result. But what exactly is this new Google Algorithm change/update ? Lets find out.
New Google Algorithm Update- What It Is
Yes. Content is King. Thats what the new page layout algorithm change is about
The new Google Algorithm change makes content the king (Oh yes it always was, it just got re-in-forced). Visitors were always annoyed at having to swim through tons of ads before finding the real content, sometimes not finding it at all (happens 
) Though ads placed “above the fold” yield high CTR and are a good place for monetisation of websites, however excess of everything is bad. Hence the new Google Algorithm change aims at penalising (yes, it can be revoked by making changes to your website later) websites which provide very little or no content above the fold, rather provide just tons of ads for visitors to swim through.
After the update was announced, Google “Distinguished Engineer” Matt Cutts had this to say:
Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.
We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content. This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads.
New Google Algorithm- Why Page Layout Algorithm Was Needed
It all depends on what is visible above the fold
The new Google Algorithm change was needed after complaints that search results yielded few sites that had any good content that could be easily tracked, and often users had to go through tons of advertisements and find the content. (Yes, it does feel frustrating to open a site, then scroll down through tons of ads to find the content. Hit “Like” if you agree ;) ) With the new google Algorithm change, these sites wont be ranking as high as they did earlier.
However there is some apprehension among webmasters as to what this new Google Algorithm change actually aims to punish. This New Google Algorithm change does not target websites having a larger number of ads above the fold than its competitor site. Infact, the change does not even take into account the number of ads being displayed on your site. It is just concerned with the way space is utilised on the website. Even above the fold, the space occupied by these ads should not be plenty.
Thank God (and Google) for the new Google Algorithm update
However, the new Google Algorithm change should have very little impact on the rankings of websites which display minimum ads, for example, websites of companies. Even if the ads displayed are about the product the company is selling, Google just wants the ads to be displayed below the fold to enhance user reading experience. Google does not discourage advertising, it just wants the user to have a worthwhile reading experience.
What Does The New Google Algorithm Change Mean To Us:
In simple laymen terms, the new Google Algorithm change tells us the following things:
- Instead of worrying about your CTR, start worrying about building visitor trust. A site that offers quality content which the visitor can “actually read” will help you get a loyal reader. If the content is cluttered with ads, well, you just lost one loyal visitor.
- If your SEO work has been outsourced to some company, which uses sites impacted by the new Google Algorithm update, your rankings can get affected as well (However said “For the best results, I trust myself” surely never crossed your path, eh? ) Backlinks are recommendations from one page to another page, and if the recommendations come from a page that suffered from the new Google Algorithm change, so will your rankings.
Thanks