UPDATE 2015-02-27 Googler Doantam Pham replied to my discussion in the Google Webmaster Forums. As I...

1. .@googlewmc Mobile Usability Tool Fails the Test ... AGAIN
UPDATE 2015-02-27 Googler Doantam Pham replied to my discussion in the Google Webmaster
Forums. As I suspected, the images were the cause of the disparity in the test results between the
two sites. The problem remains, though. While I can get my site to pass the test, the tool does not
mention the problem with the images. Once the tool was able to crawl the CSS Javascript files (after
I lifted the robots.txt block) the problem vanished. But other people may not be so lucky. I hope
Google updates the tool to indicate when image sizes are a problem.
Today Google announced that effective April 21, 2015 their automated assessment of your site's
mobile-friendly usability will directly impact its mobile search results rankings. As a frequent mobile
user I would normally welcome this news with open arms. The problem, however, is that Google's
mobile usability tool just does not work consistently enough to provide proper guidance on how sites
should improve their usability.
Here are three screen captures that illustrate just one of the problems I have found with the mobile
usability tool. I have two Websites, middle-earth.xenite.org and SEO Theory, which use the same
WordPress theme and the same basic "robots.txt" file.
How the Middle-earth blog appears on a mobile device in February 2015
In this first screen capture we see that the Middle-earth blog renders very nicely on an Android
phone using the Chrome browser. It would be tough for anyone to say that this is not a mobile-
friendly theme because it's a standard WordPress mobile-friendly set up. The menu expands for
mobile users as Google suggests. I didn't tweak anything in the theme to do that.
Both Websites use the Jetpack plugin to control mobile display. The SEO Theory blog does not use
featured images. The Middle-earth blog DOES use featured images. I cleared my smart phone
browser history and loaded the Middle-earth blog. The page loaded and completely rendered in less
than 2 seconds. That is, I could scroll to the bottom of the page and see the four featured images
within 2 seconds after clicking on the URL in the browser which (supposedly) did not have the site
cached.
Having done what I can to prevent my own browser from clouding the results of the test, I decided
to look at another Website (SEO Theory) using the tool. I took these screen captures as I was
working my way through the test to ensure that I have a proper record of what Google is reporting
today (Thursday, February 26, 2015).
Google Mobile Usability Test Results for Middle-earth.xenite.org February 2015
Here is a capture of the problems that Google found with the site when I used their "new" Mobile
Usability Test tool. The tool thinks the content is wider than the screen, which is not true. I cannot
wiggle the page back and forth because it is fully rendered on the smart phone screen.
The tool thinks the navigation links are also too close together. That is also not true. However, notice
that they say there are resources I have blocked via Javascript which may be causing the problem.
These are standard WordPress scripts located in the wp-content folder. Now, I do block the wp-
content folder from being crawled because, frankly, search engines expose far too many plugin
installations by indexing these files. Google wants to help defend your site against hackers but it is
one of the hackers' most useful resources for finding vulnerable sites.

2. Still, are the wp-content files REALLY that important to the mobile usability tool? I submitted SEO
Theory to the tool just to see what would happen.
Mobile Usability Test for SEO Theory February 2015
Here is a screen capture of the Mobile Usability Tool's assessment of SEO Theory. As you can see,
the tool loves this site, which does not use featured images. And this site ALSO blocks the wp-
content directory for crawlers. In both usability tests you can see where the tool is rendering the
page without the benefit of the wp-content folder's scripts.
Jetpack gives you the ability to disable the featured images, so I tried that. The site still failed the
mobile usability test. And the tool still only provides limited feedback on why it doesn't think the site
is mobile-friendly. But it did detect that I am using WordPress, so I clicked through to their tips for
WordPress users and found the article generally unhelpful because I'm already doing all these things
(and more). The article even specifically mentions Jetpack as a good resource for WordPress users to
install on their sites.
So what's the problem, Google? Why is one site NOT mobile-friendly when the other is, and both use
the same themes and same settings on Jetpack's very simple mobile usability dashboard?
This is a HUGE problem for millions of Website owners because:
Most of them are completely unaware of these issues
Most of them have no idea of how to make a site mobile-friendly
Most of them will never know why suddenly people have stopped visiting their blogs
The potential upside of this algorithmic update is that IT COULD BE BIGGER THAN THE 2011
GOOGLE PANDA ALGORITHM.
The potential downside of this algorithmic update is that IT COULD BE BIGGER THAN THE 2011
GOOGLE PANDA ALGORITHM.
I am already expecting to lose traffic to the Middle-earth blog because the last "Hobbit" movie has
already left the theaters. The traffic is declining because people are moving on with their lives. But
there are other Websites out there where this kind of nonsensical analysis from Google will have
severe impacts.
This is a situation where Google needs to explain exactly why a Website is failing these tests because

3. given the information they have provided, there is absolutely nothing I can do to make the blog pass
the test. I'm already doing everything they recommend.
Your move, Googlers.
Post By Michael Martinez (993 Posts)
Michael Martinez of SEO Theory is the President and co-founder of Reflective Dynamics. He was
previously the Director of Search Strategies for a Seattle area startup and Senior SEO Manager for a
Bay Area company. A former moderator at SEO forums such as JimWorld and Spider-food, Michael
has been active in search engine optimization since 1998 and Web site design and promotion since
1996. Michael was a regular contributor to Suite101 (1998-2003) and SEOmoz (2006). Michael
Martinez is also the author of the SEO Theory Premium Newsletter, a weekly publication loaded
with "how to" articles and in-depth SEO analysis.
Website: ->
http://www.seo-theory.com/2015/02/26/googlewmc-mobile-usability-tool-fails-the-test-again/