Google Mobilegeddon Penalizes Half The Fortune 500, But In The End It Could Be Great For Businesses


Google Mobilegeddon hit April 21. We are now a week into the roll out. According to Moz, an SEO tracking site, the impact has not been as big of a deal as some people believed Mobilegeddon would be. Of course, we may not know the effect of Mobilegeddon for a while. Google has stated the full rollout could occur over a two-week period. It may even take months to get the true effect. A more immediate impact though could be felt by some of America’s largest retailers.

According to the Motley Fool, a staggering 49 percent of the Fortune 500 companies websites do not meet the “mobile friendly” status. That in and of itself can seem a little shocking, but the real indicator is that 29 percent of the top 500 retail websites fail to meet “mobile friendly” status. For those scoring at home, that is about 145 retailers who will find themselves bumped further down the page because their sites do not meet Google’s criteria.

So, why should retailers be interested in the effects of Mobilgeddon? Mobilegeddon is actually a great opportunity for both the retailer as well as Google. A study by the Interger Group and M/A/R/C Research and published on Retail Customer Experience can help paint a picture of why retailers that get in line with Mobilegeddon can benefit.

In the study, it determined only one in ten consumers ever download the dedicated mobile app of a particular retailer. Despite this, the number of shoppers purchasing items on their smartphones increased from 25 percent to 35 percent from 2012 to 2014. According to InMobi, 60 percent of internet access originates from mobile devices. It can only be assumed that the vast majority of the purchases via mobile come from the browser on the device. Therefore, any retailer that is “mobile friendly” will have access to the shopper before a retailer that is not “mobile friendly.”

Mobilgeddon is obviously great for Google as well. It has been estimated that more than 60 percent of searches are performed through Google. The addition of “mobile friendly” websites further cements the search engine as the go-to place for those looking on their mobile devices. This, coupled with the addition to push notifications via Chrome, could cut the retailers dedicated app out all together.

As a consumer, can you see the benefit of the Google Mobilegeddon? Do you use the search engine to shop, or do you prefer to use the retail sites dedicated app? Feel free to leave your choice below.

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