Page loading speed will count in Google mobile searches

Google has announced that page loading speed will be factored into the display of search results on mobile devices from July. As a result, slow pages can come back lower in the results, although Google says the consequences will be small.

Google writes that until now it mainly counted the loading speed of a page in searches on the desktop. That should change in about six months. By performing a ‘speed update’, Google will also include this weighting in mobile searches.

“The update will only affect the slowest pages and only affect a small percentage of searches,” the company said. For example, a slow page can still end up high in the results if it contains very relevant information for the search performed. According to the search giant, the method of ranking the results makes no distinction based on the technique with which a page is built.

By this, the company may be referring to its amp technique, which should lead to accelerated and simplified mobile HTML pages by stripping a lot of code and allowing only standard banner sizes. Google tells Search Engine Land that slow amp pages can still be shown lower in the results.