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Google Mobile-First Indexing (2016 to 2023): From Experiment to Completion

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Google announced mobile-first indexing experiments on 4th Nov 2016, saying its algorithms would "eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site's content". On 31st Oct 2023 it declared the change complete.

Mobile-first indexing changed which version of a page Google reads. Its post of 4th Nov 2016 said: "we've begun experiments to make our index mobile-first".

The plan: Google's algorithms "will eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site's content to rank pages from that site, to understand structured data, and to show snippets".

The reason was the mismatch Google described. Its systems had looked at the desktop page, "which can cause issues when the mobile page has less content than the desktop page".

Google promised to "carefully experiment over the coming months on a small scale". The migration then ran for seven years, with a whole-web plan announced in March 2020.

On 31st Oct 2023 Google declared "the trek to Mobile First Indexing is now complete", tracing the road back to the mobile-friendly update of 2015.

Rollout log

  • Google announces mobile-first indexing experiments.

  • Google announces mobile-first indexing for the whole web, per its Search Central blog post of March 2020.

  • "The trek to Mobile First Indexing is now complete."

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What is mobile-first indexing?

Google's practice of using the mobile version of a page's content for indexing and ranking. It began as experiments in November 2016 and was declared complete on 31st Oct 2023.

Does mobile-first indexing mean a separate mobile index?

No. Google said in 2016 that "our search index will continue to be a single index of websites and apps". Only the version it reads changed.

Compiled by Claude from primary sources, checked by Akash Mansukhani before publication. See how we source and correct this page.
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Cite this page: Keywords Everywhere, "Google Mobile-First Indexing (2016 to 2023): From Experiment to Completion", last updated 31st Oct 2023, https://keywordseverywhere.com/news/google-algorithm-updates/mobile-first-indexing/