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#13 2015-04-22 14:52:51

philwareham
Core designer
From: Haslemere, Surrey, UK
Registered: 2009-06-11
Posts: 3,564
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

I don’t understand why it really matters how Google crawl and index your site – rather that you design the site to be mobile device friendly as a basic rule anyway.

Edit: I’m going to move my company site to HTTPS too to also help rank. Got to purchase some SSL certificates first though.

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#14 2015-04-22 14:58:01

Bloke
Developer
From: Leeds, UK
Registered: 2006-01-29
Posts: 11,250
Website GitHub

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

philwareham wrote #290178:

I don’t understand why it really matters how Google crawl and index your site – rather that you design the site to be mobile device friendly as a basic rule anyway.

You’re right, I don’t care how Google index my site. I just want to know how Google know the device I’m viewing their site with is a mobile, and why I can’t spoof that on a desktop.

Because whatever tech they’re using to do that can be stolen ahem borrowed, and used to do clever mobile-only stuff on our own sites which go beyond mere media queries and user agent sniffing.


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#15 2015-04-22 15:03:45

philwareham
Core designer
From: Haslemere, Surrey, UK
Registered: 2009-06-11
Posts: 3,564
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

What is a mobile though? :) Just assume everyone is on a touch enabled device of various screen sizes and build from there.

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#16 2015-04-22 15:05:02

gaekwad
Server grease monkey
From: People's Republic of Cornwall
Registered: 2005-11-19
Posts: 4,134
GitHub

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

philwareham wrote #290178:

Edit: I’m going to move my company site to HTTPS too to also help rank. Got to purchase some SSL certificates first though.

This thread might be handy if you haven’t selected a vendor yet. I ended up getting them via Gandi, and moved my domains there, and I’m absolutely happy.

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#17 2015-04-22 15:16:51

philwareham
Core designer
From: Haslemere, Surrey, UK
Registered: 2009-06-11
Posts: 3,564
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

gaekwad wrote #290181:

This thread might be handy if you haven’t selected a vendor yet. I ended up getting them via Gandi, and moved my domains there, and I’m absolutely happy.

I’ve decided to with GoDaddy for SSL, because I just need a multi-site SSL certificate (I need www, static1 and static2 for my site). Still cheaper than a wildcard SSL though.

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#18 2015-04-22 15:30:42

Bloke
Developer
From: Leeds, UK
Registered: 2006-01-29
Posts: 11,250
Website GitHub

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

philwareham wrote #290178:

I’m going to move my company site to HTTPS too to also help rank

[OT] Of course Google want this. They’re offering a domain registration service allegedly with free private registration. And, if not already, it probably won’t be long before they start conveniently selling SSL certs too.

The problem with all this is that certs themselves aren’t the silver bullet to stop bad things happening in web land. And while there are improvements on the horizon, at best, it’s a stepping stone to a tiered web where site owners with cash who can afford the “best” type of certs get the highest ranking.

Given that I believe one of Google’s original mission statements was to fight for the little guy in an open web accessible for all, practically declaring that certificates will become a mandatory requirement to get decent ranking on a search result page, with all the various “my cert’s more trustworthy than your cert” that comes with it, is a bit of a kick in the face.


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#19 2015-04-22 18:30:55

bici
Member
From: vancouver
Registered: 2004-02-24
Posts: 2,071
Website Mastodon

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

well i have found that some sites the direct you to their /m/ or /mobile sites stink. i prefer their desktop versions. not sure if google would know this.

i am beginning to really really dislike google.

Last edited by bici (2015-04-22 18:51:18)


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#20 2015-04-22 20:19:24

zero
Member
From: Lancashire
Registered: 2004-04-19
Posts: 1,470
Website

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

Many sites and services request a mobile phone number confirmation and I wouldn’t be surprised if all these numbers are in a huge database and that Google can access it in the interests of national security, so they don’t just estimate your screen size by javascript etc but use something else to tell them what number device you’re connecting from (so they can optimize and customize your web browsing experience specifically to your needs; they are doing it all for you;)


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#21 2015-04-22 21:05:28

CeBe
Plugin Author
From: Caen - Fr
Registered: 2010-06-25
Posts: 345
Website

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

Bloke wrote #290161:

I thought maybe it was detecting if the incoming request was via a different physical means

Yes

or using some geographical lookup

AND yes.

but switching to the same wireless network didn’t have any effect: the results still differed.

There are many reasons : device, navigation history, whether your are connected to your user account or not, search options…

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#22 2015-04-23 04:40:38

jstubbs
Moderator
From: Hong Kong
Registered: 2004-12-13
Posts: 2,395
Website

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

gaekwad wrote #290181:

This thread might be handy if you haven’t selected a vendor yet. I ended up getting them via Gandi, and moved my domains there, and I’m absolutely happy.

Your personal page is showing a certificate mismatch for another domain…

philwareham wrote #290182:

I’ve decided to with GoDaddy for SSL, because I just need a multi-site SSL certificate (I need www, static1 and static2 for my site). Still cheaper than a wildcard SSL though.

Wondering if this means that the whole site should be using SSL (on all pages), or just SSL on some pages is ok for a better ranking?

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#23 2015-04-23 07:02:48

philwareham
Core designer
From: Haslemere, Surrey, UK
Registered: 2009-06-11
Posts: 3,564
Website GitHub Mastodon

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

jstubbs wrote #290196:

Wondering if this means that the whole site should be using SSL (on all pages), or just SSL on some pages is ok for a better ranking?

I would assume the whole site. My static sub domains only serve assets anyway (images/JS).

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#24 2015-04-23 08:02:51

jstubbs
Moderator
From: Hong Kong
Registered: 2004-12-13
Posts: 2,395
Website

Re: How do Google know what is "a mobile"?

philwareham wrote #290200:

I would assume the whole site. My static sub domains only serve assets anyway (images/JS).

Makes sense, and seems to be what Google does. Maybe time to switch over some sites to SSL. Most of the sites use the txp:site_url tag though, so would be great if we could get support for an SSL attribute ;)

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