Google’s John Mueller discussed when it’s acceptable to use an intrusive interstitial, a feature typically devalued in search results. This was addressed during a Google Webmaster Central hangout on July 24th. A site owner was curious about using intrusive interstitials without impacting page ranking. These interstitials significantly occupy the screen, making them effective for conversions but often annoying for users, leading to devaluation on mobile by Google. Fortunately, there are ways to use them without harming search rankings.
### Hiding Intrusive Interstitials From Googlebot
The site owner inquired about serving intrusive interstitials to direct traffic, while showing smaller ones to organic traffic and Googlebot. While usually considered cloaking when different content is served, it’s acceptable in this context.
Mueller noted, “That’s generally okay. The critical point is that Googlebot, without a referrer, needs to see the same improved view as search users for it to count.”
### What About Legal Interstitials?
Some interstitials are legally required for notifying users about data collection and privacy policies, and these won’t incur penalties no matter how intrusive. Mueller mentioned that Google can recognize and ignore legal interstitials. He advised that these should overlay the HTML page rather than replace it, as directing to a separate interstitial URL or replacing content hampers Google’s ability to crawl and index.
### How Would I Know if My Pages Got Devalued?
If you’ve used intrusive interstitials and wonder about page devaluation, answers may remain elusive. Mueller highlighted that determining page devaluation due to an intrusive interstitial isn’t possible, as it factors into ranking algorithms without triggering any specific warnings.
### How Strong is the Intrusive Interstitials Penalty?
The impact of intrusive interstitials serves as a “softer” negative ranking factor. It affects individual pages rather than entire sites, and won’t compromise rankings for brand name searches. Mueller clarified that even if it impacts some pages, it won’t affect the visibility when searching for a specific brand.
You can listen to the full discussion with Mueller starting at 50:15 in the session.
