Google Starts Penalizing Sites With Too Many Ads Above the Fold

Just to keep us all on our toes, Google is adding one more ranking feature to its search optimization terms — the number of

Just to keep us all on our toes, Google is adding one more ranking feature to its search optimization terms — the number of ads above content on a page.Afters users expressed frustration with sites that place an inordinate number of ads “above the fold” and bury content, Google has decided to penalize sites that do so.The good news is that Google estimates this will affect only 1% of sites, and Paywall Times readers who are concerned with serving their audience through quality content shouldn’t be too concerned. Sites can still have banner ads above the fold, and the new rule will not affect pop-overs, pop-unders and overlays at all.How much is too much? Google Browser can help you figure out what gets looked at the most on your page, and you want to make sure there’s some content in that 90-99 percentile area. But again, this new rule does not call for the elimination of ads, just their strategic placements. In fact, Google AdSense will tell you that you can place up to three ads on content-rich pages. Although, ironically, Google may be breaking its own top-heavy rule, as this article cleverly illustrates.

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