Microsoft to prioritise mobile-friendly sites in search results

Microsoft is tweaking is ranking policy for search results for its search service Bing, prioritising sites that display better on smaller screens in response to the increased use of mobile search.

The changes, announced yesterday, come less than a month after Google started prioritising mobile-optimised sites in its search results. Both companies are looking to attract more mobile users offering better search experience on smartphones and tablets.

According to Microsoft, the changes would be rolled out over the coming months. Sites displaying well on smaller screens would also be flagged with a new "mobile friendly" tag.

Bing last year had roughly 6 per cent of the mobile search market in the US last year as against Google's 83 percent, figures from StatCounter showed.

The changes did not mean mobile-optimised sites would necessarily appear at the top of results. "You can always expect to see the most relevant results for a search query ranked higher, even if some of them are not mobile friendly," Microsoft said.

Microsoft weighs several elements to decide which sites displayed best on smartphones and tablets. For instance, sites with large navigational elements that spaced well apart will be prioritised, as also sites that did not require a lot of zooming and lateral scrolling.

With the changes sites having a ''responsive'' design would be scored higher than those who did not. Responsive design (mobile friendly) websites have the ability to detect from what device they are being accessed adjust to optimise user experience. Techaeris and MOARGeek incorporate elements of the design and had been that way for long.

Though both Microsoft and Google would favour websites with a responsive design, however, they say it did not necessarily mean they would get top billing.

However, this did not mean mean mobile-optimised sites would necessarily appear at the top of results. ''You can always expect to see the most relevant results for a search query ranked higher, even if some of them are not mobile friendly,'' Microsoft said.

According to commentators, the move to push mobile-friendly design on the part of Google and Bing was much needed. The small step might prompt some content providers to make their sites better suited to a variety of devices.