In a new update to its documentation, Google has removed references to “page experience” and “mobile-friendly” from its ranking systems page.
On Friday, Google removed several sections of the guide detailing its ranking systems, which are the “underlying technologies” that produce search engine results pages.
Google has gone into great detail about the importance of the page experience during the last 18 months, so its sudden removal is interesting.
Page experience was defined as a system that assesses a range of elements on a web page, such as load time, speed and stability, to ensure it delivers an excellent user experience.
Last week, Google removed passages about the page experience and the terms “mobile-friendly” and “secure site” from its guide and a few other related systems.
The move comes days after Google jettisoned a couple of page experience-related reports from its analytics service, Google Search Console.
The reshuffle suggests page experience is no longer a major factor in Google’s ranking algorithm – if it ever was.
Google noted that it never existed as a “separate ranking system” and was merely a concept to help webmasters and SEOs focus on making page-related improvements.
Google added: “Google Search always seeks to show the most relevant content, even if the page experience is sub-par.”
Faster pages and content tailored for smartphones are vital for satisfying user expectations but they will have little impact on rankings in search.
That is probably good news for SEOs and creators, who will now be able to focus on improving the quality of content and driving engagement rather than worrying about technical details.
