Google says the upcoming Page Experience update, which was thought to only impact mobile search, will apply to desktop search results as well.
This information was revealed during a session on preparing for the Page Experience update from Google I/O on Tuesday.
Ever since Google announced last November that the Page Experience update was coming to search results, it was understood the impact of the update was limited to mobile search rankings.
Plans have changed and the update is now on its way to desktop.
Jeffrey Jose, a product manager on Google Search, states:
“Today I am happy to announce that we are bringing Page Experience ranking to desktop. While we’re launching Page Experience on mobile soon, we believe page experience is critical no matter the surface the user is browsing the web. This is why we’re working hard on bringing page experience ranking to desktop. As always we’ll be providing updated guidance, documentation, and tools along the way to help your pages perform at its best. Stay tuned for more details on this.”
The phrasing makes it sound as though there will be a separate set of criteria for the Page Experience update on mobile.
That would make sense considering the different expectations users have when visiting a desktop page compared to mobile. Not to mention the difference in how web pages are loaded on a desktop computer versus a smartphone.
The Page Experience update for mobile is currently scheduled to roll out in June. It’s not know whether the desktop update will launch at the same time.
As stated by Jose, Google will provide further documentation and guidance before the update goes live.
Updating…
