MediaTech Law

By MIRSKY & COMPANY, PLLC

Delayed Results of Google’s “Mobilegeddon” Show Small Sites Suffer on Mobile

Posted September 16, 2015 by Rob Ellis 0

On April 21st online behemoth Google altered its search engine algorithm to favor websites it considered mobile-friendly. This change, dubbed “Mobilegeddon” by web developers and search engine optimization (SEO) specialists, sought to reward sites that used responsive design and other mobile-friendly practices to ensure sites display well on smartphones and other mobile devices. Conversely, sites that were not mobile friendly would ultimately be penalized by ranking lower on mobile search results.

At the time, it was unclear just how large of an impact this change would have on companies’ appearance in organic mobile search results. A recent report by Adobe Digital Index, however, shows that the impact has indeed been substantial. The report determined that traffic to non-mobile-friendly sites from Google mobile searches fell more than 10% in the two months after the change, with the impact growing weekly since April. This means that non-mobile-friendly sites have dropped sharply in mobile search rankings, while mobile-friendly sites have risen in rankings, showing up higher on the mobile search results page. This change has had the greatest impact on small businesses that likely underestimated the value of mobile search traffic, and also affected financial services and law firms.

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Adobe analyst, Tamara Gaffney, found that companies which were unprepared for the impact on search results have tried to offset the decrease in organic traffic by buying mobile search-ads from Google. This tactic served to keep mobile users visiting their sites through paid ads. Substituting paid results for organic results may work in the short term but is usually not a sound long-term approach. A sustainable long term online add strategy over time usually consists of a balanced approach between building brand and consumer trust through organic search, and strategically supplementing that with paid ads.

What is a company adversely affected by Mobilegeddon to do?

One obvious course of action for a site that has suffered from Mobilegeddon is to become mobile friendly. This means putting in place a responsive theme, and implementing best practices that aid in mobile user experience. This includes using larger easier-to-read text and separating links to make them easier to tap on a smaller screen. Those who are unsure of how their site fares according to Google can use the company’s Mobile Friendly Test Tool to see what recommendations may be made to improve the mobile user’s experience.

With mobile search queries outpacing desktop, Google is sending a clear message that it is willing to reward sites that provide a good mobile experience, and businesses that fail to heed that message will suffer in the search rankings.

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Privacy: Consent to Collecting Personal Information

Posted April 4, 2012 by Andrew Mirsky 0

Gonzalo Mon writes in Mashable that “Although various bills pending in Congress would require companies to get consent before collecting certain types of information, outside of COPPA, getting consent is not a uniformly applicable legal requirement yet. Nevertheless, there are some types of information (such as location-based data) for which getting consent may be a good idea.  Moreover, it may be advisable to get consent at the point of collection when sensitive personal data is in play.”

First, what current requirements – laws, agency regulations and quasi-laws – require obtaining consent, even if not “uniformly applicable”?

1. Government Enforcement.  The Federal Trade Commission’s November 2011 consent decree with Facebook user express consent to sharing of nonpublic user information that “materially exceeds” user’s privacy settings.  The FTC was acting under its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act against an “unfair and deceptive trade practice”, an authority the FTC has liberally used in enforcement actions involving not just claimed breaches of privacy policies but also data security cases involving managing of personal data without providing adequate security.

2. User Expectations Established by Actual Practice.  The mobile space offers some of the most progressive (and aggressive) examples of privacy rights seemingly established by practice rather than stated policy.  For example, on the PrivacyChoice blog, the CEO of PlaceIQ explained that “Apple and Android have already established user expectations about [obtaining] consent.  Location-based services in the operating system provide very precise location information, but only through a user-consent framework built-in to the OS.  This creates a baseline user expectation about consent for precise location targeting.”  (emphasis added)

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HTML5 Unintended Consequence? Getting Around Apple In-App Sales Restrictions.

Posted October 10, 2011 by Andrew Mirsky 0

One unintended consequence of the accelerating popularity of HTML5 for mobile app development is an ability to skate past Apple’s App Store restrictions on in-app sales.  So I put this question to Piotr Steininger of Tapangi Consulting:

There’s talk out there about being able to use HTML5 to get around Apple’s App Store ban on charging for in-app purchases.  In other words (I think), somehow HTML5 allows content producers to get around this problem by making apps (and other things) downloadable directly through web browsers.  So … how is it that HTML5 allows getting around this issue?

Some background: Apple announced a policy change earlier this year, specifically in Section 11.14 of its App Store guidelines,

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