A pop-up is a visual JavaScript technique where a specific object or window appears on the user's screen when they perform certain actions (e.g., hovering the mouse over a word in the text). Pop-up windows often obscure the actual website content and frequently appear with a delay.
This technique is frequently used to display interactive content such as videos or music playback. Pop-ups are also regularly used for intrusive advertising and spamming techniques. They are considered intrusive and are perceived as annoying by website users.
Pop-ups are very appropriate for certain purposes, such as registration forms or help functions. However, pop-ups should not be too intrusive and should not contain overly conspicuous advertising messages.
Important information necessary for using the website or its settings should not be included in pop-ups. This is because many users employ a pop-up blocker for their own security and to improve internet usability.
Google's mobile interstitial penalty specifically targets intrusive interstitials. Keep in mind that "interstitial" is a very broad term that can be applied to most pop-ups, overlays, and modals. However, not all interstitials are equally disruptive.
As a general rule of thumb: If your pop-ups are spammy, difficult to turn off, or degrade the user experience, your mobile site may be penalized.
Since Google is now focusing its indexing on mobile devices, this can affect your position in the SERPs more than you realize.
Below are examples of pop-ups that make it difficult to access your content:
You should also avoid ads that Google is known to dislike and has penalized in the past, including:
Google does not penalize non-intrusive interstitials. This includes all ads that you are legally required to display to restrict content or inform your users. Specific examples include age verification interstitials and cookie notifications.
Additional pop-ups such as banners, slide-ins, inlines and tabs can take up to 15% of the screen.
Remember: Interstitial ads, which are full-screen overlays, welcome mats, or modal ads, should be avoided if you are unsure whether they will be intrusive on your website.
Whenever possible, you should switch to top banners and slide-in boxes that allow users to continue viewing your content without disrupting the UX too much.
If you are determined to continue using pop-ups and overlays, make sure they are designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. One of the most important things you can change is the timing of your interstitials.
For example, instead of displaying a pop-up as soon as users land on your page, you should only show the pop-up once users have finished reading your blog post.
You can also limit the display time of pop-ups – a pop-up that closes automatically after three seconds of user inactivity is better than one that never closes by itself.
The challenge with this type of interstitial is, of course, that time-limited pop-ups are only as effective as your content.
Before you add ads to your website, you need to ensure that the content you provide is engaging enough to keep users interested. Otherwise, they won't click through your pages or read the material you've published. Investing in content marketing should be a priority before you try any other form of monetization.
Some of the interstitials affected by Google's interstitial penalty might surprise you. Mueller admitted that language selection pop-ups on international websites can be devalued, because ultimately "they are basically also pop-ups and interstitials."
Carefully monitor your page performance if you use these or other "gray area" interstitials, such as anchored sidebars, related posts, share buttons, live chat boxes, and coupon pop-ups. While we don't expect them to negatively impact search engine optimization, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Some ads are definitely annoying, but they aren't penalized. Although these "gray area" pop-ups are currently accepted, it's possible that Google will enforce stricter rules in the near future. It would be wise to keep this in mind to avoid the risk of non-compliance and subsequent penalties.
Be careful if you opt for interstitials. There's a chance they could be penalized in the future, even if Google doesn't directly target them. After all, three things are inevitable: death, taxes, and Google improving the user experience through updates.
Some websites have found a workaround for the problem of interstitial ads: they hide pop-ups on mobile devices and continue to use them exclusively for desktop visitors.
Most popup plugins allow you to maximize their impact with smart targeting features that let you display ads only on specific platforms. Some website platforms, like Wix, also allow you to block potentially intrusive pop-ups on all mobile devices.
However, it should also be noted that pop-ups that are intrusive and impair usability could be penalized in a future update.
If you want to stay out of the "grey area", you can only place pop-ups in front of visitors who are searching for your website beyond the organic Google results or who are switching between pages.
According to Mueller, these will still be accepted: "We are looking for interstitials that appear when there is an interaction between clicking on a search engine result and progressing through the page while viewing the content."
So this is where we look for these interstitials. What you do after that, when someone clicks on something on your website, closes the tab, or something similar, is a matter between you and the users.
If organic search accounts for a large portion of your traffic and it's working to generate leads, you shouldn't feel too pressured to switch.
It is important to remember that the new penalties for interstitial ads are just one of hundreds of signals, and one or two intrusive pop-ups will not derail your website, which is otherwise full of valuable content.
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