Google has announced a major upcoming change to mobile search rankings. The change could have serious effects on businesses that rely on search for success.

What’s happening

From 10 January 2017, Google will start penalising web pages that include certain elements that they have deemed intrusive.

Under Google’s new rules, you could find that your website appears lower in mobile search returns than it has before—if changes aren’t made to meet the revamped criteria.

What kinds of content will incur a mobile ranking penalty?

Part of an ongoing aim to improve mobile user experience, Google will crack down on websites that employ what they call ‘intrusive interstitials’.

Intrusive interstitials are things like pop-ups that must be dismissed before the page can be accessed, or unrelated above-the-fold fodder that must be scrolled past before viewing the main page content.

What’s okay?

Google says that certain interstitial elements will not be penalised.

These include things related to the usage of cookies or legal or age verification obligations.

Certain banners that use ‘a reasonable amount of screen space’ will remain permissible without penalty, as will log-in requests.

No advanced testing

Unfortunately, and to the chagrin of search marketers, Google is not releasing a testing tool to see how your current page stacks up.

So, if a high mobile search ranking is important to your business, it’ll be best to employ a better-safe-than-sorry approach before the new mobile search rules kick in on 10 January.

To learn more, visit the official Google Webmaster Central Blog.