On January 10, 2017, Google changed its policy regarding “intrusive” interstitials or “pop-up” ads on mobile websites.  To discourage this negative effect on the web surfing experience, Google is now penalizing websites that employ ads that show up immediately when a user visits a mobile web page with lower search rankings.

Digital marketers must instead use the “pop-ups” to target visitors only at key moments and avoid generic messages that distract the mobile user.

IgnitionOne Digital Marketing Report

Mobile spend by digital marketers was up 69 percent year-over-year in 2016, according to IgnitionOne’s Q4 Digital Marketing Report.  The report also shows a 30 percent decline in tablet spend because of revised options that allow marketers to separate tablet from desktop, which was up 5 percent.

Mobile interactions in Q4 2016 grew by 25 percent while desktop decreased by 13 percent.  Desktop still holds a slight lead though at 54 percent of all visitors.

“The idea of customer-obsessed marketing has reached a fever pitch, and we’re seeing the data that proves it,” said Will Margiloff, CEO of IgnitionOne. “Marketers are diving into mobile and focusing on personalization at every angle, while giants like Google are simultaneously sending a clear message with new policies: success means meeting the customer where they are. Increased spend across the board is proof that marketers are ready to fight for attention and results.”

Overall U.S. Google paid search spend was up 15 percent year-over-year for Q4 2016, due to a shift away from branded terms and toward more generic terms. 

Q4 saw a continued increase in impressions, up 28 percent, which is likely due to an additional ad space Google created on both mobile phone and tablet searches.

IgnitionOne has tracked more than 140 billion impressions and over 5 billion clicks on Google and Yahoo!/Bing search networks, Google AdEx, the IgnitionOne DSP and other networks from January 1, 2006 through December 15, 2016.  Its quarterly report on digital marketing trends is the longest continuously running one of its kind.