Mobile-friendly update 2

What changed

Google announced in March 2016 that it would boost the effect of mobile-friendliness in mobile search from May, and said sites already mobile-friendly would need to do nothing. The change was smaller in practice than the 2015 launch because most large sites had already adapted. It reinforced the direction of travel that culminated in mobile-first indexing.

Timing

Announced on 16 March 2016, with rollout beginning 12 May 2016. No completion date was announced. Rankings typically remain unstable for the whole rollout window, so measurements taken inside it are not a reliable read on the outcome.

What it affected