\n optimizing the smaller space of a smartphone screen can mean that some content, like images, will
\n have to be modified. Or you might want to
\n store your website’s menu in a navigation drawer<\/a>
\n to make mobile browsing easier and more effective. When implemented properly, these user-centric
\n modifications can be understood very well by Google.\n<\/p>\n
\n The situation is similar when it comes to mobile-only redirect. Redirecting mobile users to \n There are cases where webmasters knowingly decide to put into place redirection rules for their \n But we’ve also observed situations where mobile-only sneaky redirects happen without site owners \n Monitor your users in your site’s analytics data<\/b> \n To be aware of wide changes in mobile user activity as soon as they happen, you can for \n Make sure that your site is not hacked.<\/b> \n Review our additional resources on \n Audit third-party scripts\/elements on your site<\/b> \n It’s a violation of the Google Webmaster Guidelines to redirect a user to a page with the intent \n Be sure to choose advertisers who are transparent on how they handle user traffic, to avoid
\n improve their mobile experience (like redirecting mobile users from example.com\/url1<\/code>
\n to m.example.com\/url1<\/code>) is often beneficial to them. But redirecting mobile users
\n sneakily to a different content is bad for user experience and is against
\n Google’s webmaster guidelines<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/kb-gorsel\/g-341981b86dc9.png\")
<\/p>\nWho implements these mobile-only sneaky redirects?<\/h2>\n
\n mobile users. This is typically a webmaster guidelines violation, and we do take manual action
\n against it when it harms Google users’ experience (see last section of this article).\n<\/p>\n
\n being aware of it:\n<\/p>\n\n
\n A script\/element installed to display ads and monetize content might be redirecting mobile
\n users to a completely different site without the webmaster being aware of it.\n <\/li>\n
\n In other cases, if your website has been hacked, a potential result can be redirects to spammy
\n domains for mobile users only.\n <\/li>\n<\/ul>\nHow do I detect if my site is doing sneaky mobile redirects?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n We recommend you to check the mobile user experience of your site by visiting your pages from
\n Google search results with a smartphone. When debugging, mobile emulation in desktop browsers is
\n handy, mostly because you can test for many different devices. You can, for example, do it
\n straight from your browser in
\n Chrome<\/a>,
\n Firefox<\/a>
\n o
\n Safari<\/a>
\n (for the latter, make sure you have enabled the “Show Develop menu in menu bar” feature).\n <\/li>\n
\n Your users could see your site in a different way than you do. It’s always important to pay
\n attention to user complaints, so you can hear of any issue related to mobile UX.\n <\/li>\n
\n Unusual mobile user activity could be detected by looking at some of the data held in your
\n website’s analytics data. For example, looking at the average time spent on your site by your
\n mobile users could be a good signal to watch: if all of a sudden, your mobile users (and only
\n them) start spending much less time on your site than they used to, there might be an issue
\n related to mobile redirections.\n <\/p>\n
\n example
\n set up Google Analytics alerts<\/a>.
\n For example, you can set an alert to be warned in case of a sharp drop in average time spent
\n on your site by mobile users, or a drop in mobile users (always take into account that big
\n changes in those metrics are not a clear, direct signal that your site is doing mobile sneaky
\n redirects).\n <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/kb-gorsel\/g-38ddbb880c5b.png\")
\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\nI’ve detected sneaky redirects for my mobile users, and I did not set it up: what do I do?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n Check the
\n Security Issues tool<\/a>
\n in the Search Console, if we have noticed any hack, you should get some information there.\n <\/p>\n
\n typical symptoms of hacked sites<\/a>,
\n and our
\n case studies on hacked sites<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n If your site is not hacked, then we recommend you take the time to investigate if third-party
\n scripts\/elements are causing the redirects. You can follow these steps:\n <\/p>\n\n
\n page(s).\n <\/li>\n
\n and see when the redirect stops.\n <\/li>\n
\n removing it from your site, and debugging the issue with the script\/element provider.\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nLast Thoughts on Sneaky Mobile Redirects<\/h2>\n
\n of displaying content other than what was made available to the search engine crawler (more
\n information on
\n sneaky redirects<\/a>). To ensure
\n quality search results for our users, the Google Search Quality team can take action on such
\n sites, including removal of URLs from our index. When we take manual action, we send a message to
\n the site owner via Search Console. Therefore, make sure you’ve
\n set up a Search Console account<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n
\n unknowingly redirecting your own users. If you are interested in trust-building in the online
\n advertising space, you may check out industry-wide best practices when participating in ad
\n networks. For example, the Trustworthy Accountability Group’s (Interactive Advertising Bureau)
\n Inventory Quality Guidelines<\/a> are a
\n good place to start. There are many ways to monetize your content with mobile solutions that
\n provide a high quality user experience, be sure to use them.\n<\/p>\n