More Mobile Shenanigans From Google

Over the past several weeks, Google has been in the lab cooking up some potential new mobile search bells and whistles. While Google has yet to make any formal statement, you may have noticed one of two similar icons while looking at Google search results on your smart phone. A couple of weeks ago, Google tested a green “mobile-friendly” icon attached to listed websites that are indeed mobile-friendly (either a mobile site, or likely a responsive site), a form of “dangling the carrot,” so to speak.

On Monday, Search Engine Land reported on the appearance of the converse to this approach, adding grey “non-mobile friendly” icons to listings that do not have a mobile-specific design. And as of yesterday, yet a third variation of this concept appeared, this time utilizing text in lieu of the icon (literally spelling out “mobile-friendly” by each URL).

Google has not dropped the curtain on what these tests are ultimately going to produce, so we can only guess, but it would appear that some classic psychological tactics are being employed to determine what motivates people more: reward or punishment. While as a user I feel more drawn to the carrot effect, enticed by a shiny green seal of approval, it is possible that the shaming effect may prove to be a bigger incentive to get companies and organizations to make their websites mobile-friendly, sooner rather than later. Stay tuned!