Google’s ‘Mobilegeddon’ Was a Big Deal, After All - Digits - WSJ

Play well on mobile or pay more to be seen? Also see Digital Ad Report: Google Hitting Plateau on Search, Feeling Heat From Facebook (Re/code)

"“Mobilegeddon fears have come true,” said Tamara Gaffney, an Adobe analyst, said. The changes to Google’s search algorithm prompted many website operators to alter their sites, to assure that the sites remained visible in Google search results.

The changes also helped Google, in ways that may emerge when the search giant reports second-quarter financial results Thursday.

Sites that got less organic traffic responded by buying more mobile-search ads from Google, Adobe says. That contributed to a 16% increase in the price, or cost-per-click, Adobe clients paid for Google mobile-search ads in the second quarter, compared with a year earlier, according to Adobe.

In effect, Gaffney said, website operators who lost traffic paid the search giant to keep phone users visiting their sites."

Google’s ‘Mobilegeddon’ Was a Big Deal, After All - Digits - WSJ