Google has announced that from the 10th of January 2017, it will be reducing search rankings for websites that use intrusive interstitials on mobile. Interstitials will be classed as intrusive if they make the content less accessible for the user. Examples of intrusive interstitials include pop ups that cover the content, interstitial pages that users must dismiss in order to view the content, and layouts where interstitial-like content is placed above the fold and the actual content is placed below the fold. Responsible interstitials will not be affected by the ranking change, however, such as those which are legally necessary such as age verification and cookie usage pop ups, log in pages, and small banners that can be easily dismissed.Â
