Top Heavy Update: Putting Ads in Their Place
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2025 4:46 am
Ranking algorithm update to reduce ads above the fold
Isn't it great when a URL lands on page 1 of the SERPs? Perfect! Then you slap 2,347,654 ads on it to make the ranking pay off.
That was the motto until—yes, until Google came around complete cell phone number list the corner with the Top Heavy update in January 2012. Pages that were decorated with ads above the fold like an over-the-fold Christmas tree were devalued.
The reason: The user experience suffered greatly from the flood of ads. The actual content was barely distinguishable between the ad boxes. The Google blog reports:
We received complaints from users who clicked on a search result and had difficulty identifying the actual content – they were dissatisfied with the browsing experience.Pages that had lost rankings after a Top Heavy update were able to regain their position by significantly reducing ads and refocusing on content.
Isn't it great when a URL lands on page 1 of the SERPs? Perfect! Then you slap 2,347,654 ads on it to make the ranking pay off.
That was the motto until—yes, until Google came around complete cell phone number list the corner with the Top Heavy update in January 2012. Pages that were decorated with ads above the fold like an over-the-fold Christmas tree were devalued.
The reason: The user experience suffered greatly from the flood of ads. The actual content was barely distinguishable between the ad boxes. The Google blog reports:
We received complaints from users who clicked on a search result and had difficulty identifying the actual content – they were dissatisfied with the browsing experience.Pages that had lost rankings after a Top Heavy update were able to regain their position by significantly reducing ads and refocusing on content.