The Problem#
Google announced that on January 10, 2017 it would begin penalizing sites with "intrusive interstitials." The reasoning is straightforward: intrusive popups disrupt the mobile user experience and "can be problematic on mobile devices where screens are often smaller."
Interstitials With a Negative Impact#
Google has detailed which types of interstitials will have a negative impact on your site's search rankings:
- Showing a popup that covers the main content, either immediately after the user navigates to a page from search results, or while they are browsing the page.
- Displaying a standalone interstitial that the user must dismiss before accessing the main content.
- Using a layout where the above-the-fold portion of the page appears similar to a standalone interstitial, but the original content is inlined below the fold.
Interstitials With No Impact#
Not all popups are penalized. If your popup uses a reasonable amount of screen space, or exists for legal or access-control purposes, you're in the clear. Google has outlined the following as acceptable:
- Interstitials that appear in response to a legal obligation, such as cookie usage notices or age verification.
- Login dialogs on sites where content is not publicly indexable — for example, private content like email or content behind a paywall.
- Banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space and are easily dismissible, such as the app install banners provided by Safari and Chrome.
The Trade-Off for Online Businesses#
This is great for users. Google generally has the user's best interest in mind when shipping large updates like this — and it's not the first time. Previously, Google released updates encouraging mobile optimization and SSL certificates.
That said, it's not so great if you're an online business that relies on popups for marketing. If you're not willing to update them, you need to ask yourself: "Do I want more email subscribers, or higher search rankings on Google?"
It's important to stay ahead of the SEO curve. If you don't want to fall behind, you need to adopt new approaches to achieve the same goal. The good news is that there are compliant solutions that preserve popup functionality while meeting Google's requirements.
A Compliant Solution#
Below is a CodePen I put together that is fully compliant with Google's update — specifically the guideline around "banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space and are easily dismissible."
This solution is a small, full-width banner fixed to the bottom of the viewport. Users can click it to expand a newsletter signup form, or dismiss it entirely. It also includes a subtle animation to grab attention if the banner is initially ignored.
The key takeaway is that Google's update puts control back in the hands of the user. If someone wants to sign up for a newsletter, they can — on their own terms. For online marketers and businesses, embracing this shift is the best way to protect both your SEO rankings and your subscriber growth at the same time.