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^this. And: It pisses me off to no end that Google is in the position to decide how a site has to look like on $device. They announce that you will get a wors

^this. And: It pisses me off to no end that Google is in the position to decide how a site has to look like on $device. They announce that you will get a worse SERP if your site doesn't do X and everyone scrambles to please mighty G. If they decide that every site has to have a yellow background, starting next week, what will you do? Give in?

jontro 11y ago
Well, you only get worse SERP for mobile searches don't you? As long as google delivers good results people will use it, I am not that worried
golergka 11y ago
The whole business model of Google is knowledge about what users want to see on the web. And their judgements about it are context-specific: they are true for the current situation, when the mobile browsers work as they do. If Google is wrong, and users want the sites that are _not_ optimized for mobile, they will lose their market share. However, if they are right, and the users _do_ want to see sites optimised for mobile, it means that while you are right technically about how mobile browsers are supposed to work, and how sites are supposed to work, the real users just don't agree with you.
- seba_dos1 11y ago
  What if my target audience is actually that 1% niche that doesn't care about mobile, or a niche that actually uses decent browsers and mobile platforms, so they're perfectly able to view my simple page even without stupid meta viewport tag? It seems easy to just add the tag and a few CSS rules - but what if this is a still useful page from 2005 which I have forgotten about?
  - golergka 11y ago
    Then Google sees that they don't use mobile devices when they search and your mobile unfriendliness doesn't affect search results.
tobyhinloopen 11y ago
Google makes these kinds of decisions to improve their service: Finding the information you need. If you look up some information about bananas on your 4" touchscreen device and 2 sites provide info on them: A mobile site and a "regular" website, I want the mobile/responsive website, not the "regular" one.

jontro 11y ago

Well, you only get worse SERP for mobile searches don't you? As long as google delivers good results people will use it, I am not that worried

golergka 11y ago

The whole business model of Google is knowledge about what users want to see on the web. And their judgements about it are context-specific: they are true for the current situation, when the mobile browsers work as they do. If Google is wrong, and users want the sites that are _not_ optimized for mobile, they will lose their market share. However, if they are right, and the users _do_ want to see sites optimised for mobile, it means that while you are right technically about how mobile browsers are supposed to work, and how sites are supposed to work, the real users just don't agree with you.

seba_dos1 11y ago
What if my target audience is actually that 1% niche that doesn't care about mobile, or a niche that actually uses decent browsers and mobile platforms, so they're perfectly able to view my simple page even without stupid meta viewport tag? It seems easy to just add the tag and a few CSS rules - but what if this is a still useful page from 2005 which I have forgotten about?
- golergka 11y ago
  Then Google sees that they don't use mobile devices when they search and your mobile unfriendliness doesn't affect search results.

tobyhinloopen 11y ago

Google makes these kinds of decisions to improve their service: Finding the information you need. If you look up some information about bananas on your 4" touchscreen device and 2 sites provide info on them: A mobile site and a "regular" website, I want the mobile/responsive website, not the "regular" one.