Just this past Friday, Matt Cutts, a key engineer at Google, announced an algorithm update for Google that is biased against ads. Although this update doesn’t have a name yet (and it will soon), it is a filter to remove websites from Google’s index that are top heavy on advertising.
The Google Webmaster Central blog spoke in-depth about the algorithm. You can read the full article from this link. Here’s what Google says about the change:
“In our ongoing effort to help you find more high-quality websites in search results, today we’re launching an algorithmic change that looks at the layout of a web page and the amount of content you see on the page once you click on a result.”
“We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content. This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads. “
Google again is reasserting that content is key to relevancy and thus to organic placement. With too much “stuff” above the fold (what is visible on your screen before you have to scroll), you will now be dinged by Google in the search results. Take heed as you don’t want your website or blogsite that is even heavy with images to be caught in the filter.