Mobilegeddon
Mobilegeddon is a name for Google's search engine algorithm update of April 21, 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2015/04/rolling-out-mobile-friendly-update.html|title=Rolling out the mobile-friendly update|work=Official Google Webmaster Central Blog|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}} The term was coined by Chuck Price in a post written for Search Engine Watch on March 9, 2015. The term was then adopted by webmasters and web-developers.
The main effect of this update was to give priority to websites that display well on smartphones and other mobile devices. The change did not affect searches made from a desktop computer or a laptop.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/04/21/401269739/googles-new-search-algorithm-stokes-fears-of-mobilegeddon|title=Google's New Search Algorithm Stokes Fears Of 'Mobilegeddon'|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en}}
Google announced its intention to make the change in February 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32393050|title=Google’s 'mobilegeddon'|last=Cellan-Jones|first=Rory|date=2015-04-21|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-GB}} In addition to their announcement, Google published an article, "Mobile Friendly Sites," on their Google Developers page to help webmasters with the transition.{{Cite web|url=https://developers.google.com/search/mobile-sites/|title=Welcome! {{!}} Search|website=Google Developers|language=en|access-date=2018-11-08}} Google claims the transition to mobile-friendly sites was to improve user experience, stating "the desktop version of a site might be difficult to view and use on a mobile device."
The protologism is a blend word of "mobile" and "Armageddon" because the change "could cause massive disruption to page rankings."{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/11549615/Google-search-overhaul-could-cause-Mobilegeddon.html|title=Google search overhaul could spark 'Mobilegeddon'|last=Curtis|first=Sophie|date=2015-04-20|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} But, writing for Forbes, Robert Hof says that concerns about the change were "overblown" in part because "Google is providing a test to see if sites look good on smartphones".{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2015/04/21/why-googles-mobilegeddon-isnt-the-end-of-the-world-for-most-websites/|title=Why Google's Mobilegeddon Isn't The End Of The World For Most Websites|last=Hof|first=Robert|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en}}
Search engine results pages on smartphones now show URLs in "breadcrumb" format, as opposed to the previous explicit format.{{Cite news|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ca/2015/04/better-presentation-of-urls-in-search.html|title=Better presentation of URLs in search results|work=Official Google Webmaster Central Blog|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}}
Impact
Based on their data set, software company Searchmetrics found that the average loss of rankings for the non-mobile friendly sites measured was 0.21 positions on average.{{Cite news|url=http://www.searchmetrics.com/mobile-ranking-factors/|title=Mobile Ranking Factors Study 2015|work=Searchmetrics|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}} Content marketing company BrightEdge has tracked over 20,000 URLs since the update, and is reporting a 21% decrease in non-mobile-friendly URLs on the first 3 pages of search results.{{Cite news|url=http://www.brightedge.com/blog/non-mobile-friendly-share-of-serps-decreases-21-with-april-21-mobile-algorithm-change/|title=Data Stats, Impact April 21 Google Mobile Algo Change|date=2015-04-28|work=BrightEdge SEO Blog|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}} According to Peter J. Meyers, it was "nothing to write home about."{{Cite news|url=https://moz.com/blog/day-after-mobilegeddon|title=7 Days After Mobilegeddon: How Far Did the Sky Fall?|work=Moz|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}}
See also
{{Portal|Internet}}