Google’s latest mobile update is making waves in the digital publishing industry and has some people screaming, “Interstitialgeddon!” The search giant has made the decision to essentially downgrade any website that uses pop-ups, interstitials or lightboxes on their mobile websites. Who does this affect? Almost everyone in the digital publishing industry.
Since ad blockers have become popular, digital publishers have begun to lose ad revenue. In order to stop these ad dollars from hemorrhaging, many savvy publishers have taken to remind consumers about the cost of free content. The IAB has recommended pop-ups as a great way to tell consumers to turn off their ad blockers if they want to access free content.
Another reason that these pop-ups have gained popularity is that publishers have been successfully using these units to build their email lists. Audience members that visit a site from search or social don’t have the same engagement rate as loyal readers, which is why email is so important to a digital publisher’s strategy. Pop-ups have become a primary method for converting casual audiences into email subscribers.
So why is Google punishing publishers that are only trying to make the most of their business? It comes down to user experience. Most of these pop-ups are designed for desktop and lead to a very poor experience on mobile devices. These units are usually not optimized for the mobile device and can be difficult to close for a user that is just trying to access content. By downgrading sites that use these tools from their search algorithm, Google is essentially hoping to make the web experience better for its users.
This means that the majority of digital publishers need to start thinking about new ways to implement their ad blocking and email capture messages. It’s not worth trying to retool these units for mobile since it wouldn’t be worth the risk of losing organic search results. Instead, try to think of units that are more organic to mobile that can help convey the appropriate message. Below are three tricks to help prevent an “interstitialgeddon.”
1. Use inline forms: Inline forms are capture boxes within the content on a page, such as in the middle of a news article. These forms are a great place to collect email addresses for interested parties since the user has already shown their interest by reading halfway down the page. These forms are simple to set up and provide a good user experience, so you are unlikely to lose out on Google search rankings if you take this approach.
2. Adopt sticky footers or headers: If you want to collect email addresses or ask a reader to turn off their ad blocker, no one says you have to do so with a pop-up. Sticky footers and headers can be fixed to the top or bottom of your website and will remain present on the user’s screen for as long as you dictate. These units are optimized for mobile and do not cover the content the way a pop-up does, so Google is not going to punish you for going this route.
3. Employ sliders: The mobile device has its own parameters, and small units like sliders allow you to take advantage of the smaller screens. These units usually animate in from the side or the bottom of the page, without a full-page takeover. While lightboxes are 50% more effective than sliders in the short-term, these units have proven to perform much better in the long run.
It’s important to think about how these tools fit into your business needs. There is no one-size-fits all approach to delivering your messages. Consider your company’s KPIs, and try to figure out what works best. Google’s new update is just another hurdle in the digital publishing business. If you take action your chances of experiencing an “interstitialgeddon” are about as likely as a real Armageddon.