Page Layout Algorithm

Google has released a refresh of its Page Layout Algorithm. The filter, known as the Top Heavy algorithm, downgrades the ranking of a web page with too many ads at the top or if the ads are distracting the users. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away.So sites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience.Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.

This would be the third confirmed update to the Top Heavy algorithm, with the full release schedule as follows:

• Top Heavy 1: Jan. 19, 2012
• Top Heavy 2: Oct. 9, 2012
• Top Heavy 3: Feb. 6, 2014