New Google Algorithm Update – Ads Above the Fold

January 24th, 2012 | 13 comments

Last Thursday (1/19/12) Matt Cutts announced a new Google search algorithm update on the Google search blog. This is an update that has been rumored for a while now and it looks like it has finally happened, or begun to happen at least.

This new update looks at the above the fold content to advert ratio of pages and it is sitewide, meaning that if they find just one page on your site that they believe is pushing the page content too far down the page, they can and probably will punish the entire site!

Ironically, on the SAME DAY that they made this announcement, I received an email (and alot of others did too) from the Adsense team, telling me that my Germany tourism site should show MORE ads, even though most of my internal pages currently display a large rectangle ad that pushes most of the content down quite a bit. So there is a little hypocrisy there, but they’re famous for that. Check out the ad placement recommendations they made in the image below:

google algorithm update While they’re not recommending that I ad all 14 ad units shown in this image, as they allow no more than three ad units on any one page, their recommendation is still out of line with the Search team’s new above the fold ad guidelines.

For example, what if I decided to take their advice and add the three ads in that diagram that appear above the content. That would push my content about halfway down the page, which is exactly what the google search team is telling us they will PENALIZE our site for! And if that weren’t enough, Chris Richardson of WebProNews points out that the google search team is even guilty of breaking their own guidelines (see the screenshot toward the bottom of this article.) But it is what it is … we’re used to this kind of thing from google.

In reality it’s a smart update and it will improve the quality of their search results. What it all comes down to is the user experience and while even I may lose money from this update, as I own sites that are solely monetized by Adsense and I also place a large rectangle adsense unit directly below the titles, we should all try our best to maintain the mindset that it’s about the user, not the income!

As Zig Ziglar once said: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want” and that applies to our online business as well. If we are constantly trying to help people, whether it’s by showing only the most user friendly pages in search results or doing something much greater, just having that mindset will make you much more money in the long run and more importantly, you will be able to help more people in the long run.

Related Posts

13 comments

Yvonne A Jones (1 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 5:06 pm

Frankly, Josh, I’ve given up on trying to follow all the changes myself and I count on people like you, whom I trust, to give an overview. When necessary, I dig deeper. Thanks for the update.

I do have some Adsense sites so need to see how they measure up to the new algorithms.
Eddie (2 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 5:09 pm

Although I do not have any adsense sites at this moment,this is important for every affiliate site. I am in the process of checking all my affiliate pages for links above the fold. I have one site with many pages and although most pages where ready for the new update. I had a few pages I had not changed yet, and the whole site ranking have been affected. Tumbled from many page 1 rankings to page 4 or 5 for this moment.
Maybe Josh can wright an post about what to do when your site is hit by this update?
Thanks for the great info (as always)
Eddie
Robb Corbett (1 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 5:14 pm

Some of my Adsense only sites got hammered as I was using WP themes designed for CTR.

I actually think google targeted any sites with those exact themes.

However changed my theme and put the adsense in the content on the page instead of at the top (which is gives better CTR rates anyway)… did this last night and one of my sites bounced back already.

Also instead of focusing only on Adsense on those sites, added a newsletter sign up and a short mini course to sell affiliate stuff… (been meaning to do that for some time, but was content with the adsense revenue, which is far more then a few cents as mentioned by Paul above)….

so all and all I think it will work out better and this change is probably in the long run a good move for all involved.

Thanks for the post bro.

Robb Corbett
Mk akan (1 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 5:19 pm

Josh,thanks for the update.time to go make sure all my adsense niche sites comply with this new rule.i can see the sense in it but it will eventually reduce earnings because it will mean removing or changing adsense formats. Thanks
Mark Mason (76 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 5:50 pm

So, you going to move your ads lower or wait and see?
Rika Susan (23 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 6:31 pm

I heard about this yesterday, Josh. This makes more sense than some of the changes of last year. It will give a better user experience.
Jay (4 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 7:22 pm

Great post Josh. Funny comment above Paul lol. I think if you have good unique content and your content is not pushed down that far within a reasonable amount you should be fine with any Google update.

Just produce great content!
Ray | Waipawa Clock Shop (1 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 9:06 pm

Do Google ever consider that a good user experience might possibly be to buy a product without having to wade through a site to find the buy button?
Cliff (2 comments.)
24th January, 2012 at 9:50 pm

Josh – thanks for the timely heads up.
Keeping up with Google’s changes is getting crazier all the time. I’m curious which WP themes Robb is using (from the above comment) that he thinks is drawing Google’s attention for punishment?
Angie Berg (45 comments.)
25th January, 2012 at 8:10 am

One never knows what Google will do next. I, of course, received that same email about adding more Adsense last week. You just have to laugh about it all or else you might end up in tears.

I’m leaving my top horizontal ads where they are and just moving the square ad below the fold. I usually make it a practice to only have two Adsense ads on a page.

Although I do have affiliate ads on offer, too.

I’m interested in seeing what’s going to shift during the next Panda update.
Giko Tiko (1 comments.)
15th February, 2012 at 1:09 am

You are right, google is known for their hypocrisy. I guess the bottom line is to make sure your site is user friendly. As long as we keep googles mission in life in our mind, we should be fine. Google loves relevance, that is how they make money. If we help them give their user what they are looking for, they will probably love us back. But keeping up with their updates is a good thing to do. You never know when you get hit by mistake…Good Update Josh
paul nicholls blog (4 comments.)
20th February, 2012 at 5:10 pm

hey josh

having ads above the fold is something which google are beginning to frown upon because even though i have no proof its all about the user experience

having ads above the fold may make the site look less interesting and more spammy

so what i have done on my adsense sites is still include the main adsense block above the fold but wrap the text around the adsense block

previously the block was sat on its own

this seems to be working for me but time will tell

paul
Chelsea Buxton Realtor (1 comments.)
21st February, 2012 at 8:43 am

Its best to do as Google says and to follow their guidelines guys…… this is really simple………… it’s when you try and beat the big G that you will come unstuck……….. just follow the rules and put your sites to work in better ways.