So here’s the latest news on the Google Mobile update.
It has been confirmed by Gary Illyes (a Google Webmaster Trends expert) that the new algorithm will only affect the main organic listings — “the ten blue links”. It will not affect the map listings at the top (also known as the 7-pack). This will come as a relief to a lot of companies who aren’t yet ready with a mobile site and who rely on their map listings for customers.
The reasoning behind it is that when people carry out their searches on smartphones, they usually just use the phone number which is presented to them rather than actually going to the site itself and getting the information from there. So in this case it wouldn’t affect the user’s experience if the site was mobile optimised or not, as they never actually visit the site. They are just looking to contact the local business.
The information was given out as Cary spoke at the BrightonSEO conference this week. This makes a lot of sense, and might help some of those out there who haven’t yet upgraded their sites.
Some further info about the update has also emerged in the last few days. I’ve added it to the original post on the mobile update from Google.