Pop-ups can serve a range of important purposes, however; they didn’t become one of the most maligned aspects of the online world for no reason.
In this age of UX design and helpful content, can you use pop-ups on your website without stunting your SEO efforts, or are they accepted as a necessary aspect of the digital ecosystem?
In this post, we discuss the relationship between pop-ups and SEO in 2025 — and whether it might be time to let your UI do the talking.
What our data shows
At TDMP, we analyse page experience and Core Web Vitals for all clients every quarter, making data-driven development recommendations. Our findings show that pop-ups can affect page experience and usability in many ways — not just visually.
Core Web Vitals, which were introduced specifically to measure user experience, can be significantly impacted by pop-ups. This is a key factor in considering whether to implement them.
The different types of pop-ups
Pop-ups are generally broken down into the following categories:
1. Intrusive pop-ups
An intrusive pop-up is a window or overlay that appears suddenly on a webpage, disrupting the user experience by obstructing content or actions.
See Google’s example below:
Source: Google
2. Intrusive standalone interstitials
An intrusive standalone interstitial is a full-screen overlay that appears between page navigation, delaying access to content.
Here’s Google’s example:
Source: Google
3. Easily dismissible banners
These are modest on-screen elements, typically located at the top or bottom of a webpage, that convey information or prompt action without significantly obstructing content.
Source: Google
4. Legal obligation interstitials and content barrier dialogues
A legal obligation interstitial is a mandatory overlay or banner, such as a cookie consent notice or age verification prompt, designed to ensure compliance with legal requirements before granting access to the content.
Content barrier pop-ups include login or paywall dialogues designed to block certain users from accessing content.
Source: Google
How does Google feel about pop-ups?
Google recognises that pop-ups can be both problematic and helpful. Instead of tarring all pop-ups with the same brush, Google tries to separate the good from the bad with its algorithms.
Generally speaking, Google…
- Will penalise websites that use intrusive pop-ups
- Will penalise websites that use standalone interstitials
- Will not penalise websites that use easily dismissible banner pop-ups
- Will not penalise websites for using legal obligation pop-ups
- Will not penalise websites for using content barrier pop-ups
But, as always with Google, there’s some nuance to account for.
Covered below, we advise using Google’s past statements and updates related to pop-ups to guide your usage.
Google and pop-ups — What's been said up until 2025
August - 2016
Google first spoke out against pop ups in August 2016 in an article entitled ‘Helping users easily access content on mobile’ posted on their Search Central blog:
‘Pages that show intrusive interstitials provide a poorer experience to users than other pages where content is immediately accessible.’
It’s important to note that this was written about the mobile user experience. This is because Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning they primarily crawl and index the mobile version of your website.
January - 2017
Shortly after, in January 2017, Google took action, posting the following update to the article:
‘Starting today, pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as high.’
However, the post does also concede that a webpage with great, relevant content may still rank highly in spite of pop-up usage.
- Still relevant in 2025: The principle of accessible content remains a core ranking factor.
July - 2017
In July 2017, Google updated their AdSense policies to prohibit all websites and apps in the Display Network from implementing ad code within pop-ups:
‘Publishers are encouraged to experiment with a variety of placements and ad formats. However, AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software.’
Not only that; if a website uses any form of pop up that harms the user experience, Google won’t allow the use of their ads full stop:
‘Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation.’
In other words, Google didn’t want their ads anywhere near intrusive pop-ups.
- Still relevant: AdSense policies regarding pop-ups remain unchanged.
July - 2020
The next substantial mention of pop-ups and SEO occurred during ‘Google Webmaster Central hangout’ with John Muller. Specifically, the conversation centred on the severity of penalties related to intrusive interstitials.
Mueller explained that, at that point in time, they weren’t a huge priority for Google, that intrusive interstitials were a “softer [negative] ranking factor” and that resulting penalties “wouldn’t be applied across the whole website.”
This means that a page with an intrusive interstitial might lose visibility on Google’s SERPs, but this wouldn’t have a knock-on effect that worked against the website as a whole.
During the Webmaster Hangout, John Mueller also revealed that there is a way to use intrusive interstitials strategically without incurring the wrath of Google.
In essence, you have to hide the intrusive interstitial from Googlbot. The example given in the discussion was serving an intrusive interstitial to direct traffic (i.e., those that type your web address directly into their browser), and serving less imposing interstitials to organic traffic (i.e., those that visit your website via Google) and Googlebot.
As direct traffic isn’t associated with Google Search, they don’t really have a horse in the race. As John Mueller stated, what matters is that “users coming in from Search see kind of an improved view.”
- Less relevant in 2025: While technically this might still work, it goes against Google’s current focus on consistent user experience. Google may not see the interstitial, but users will, meaning it’s impact will trickle into your user experience metrics — which Google can see.
August - 2021
In Q3 of 2021, Google rolled out their Page Experience Update, aiming to make user experience a priority when assessing the quality of web pages.
It marked the first discrete, explicit and comprehensive effort to ensure the best possible user experiences on Google’s SERPs.
As a guide, Google published the following on their Search Central blog:
‘Answering yes to the following questions means you're probably on track in providing a good page experience:
- Do your pages have good Core Web Vitals?
- Are your pages served in a secure fashion?
- Does your content display well on mobile devices?
- Does your content avoid using an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Do your pages avoid using intrusive interstitials?
- Is your page designed so visitors can easily distinguish the main content from other content on your page?
Although we can’t say for sure, it seems likely this signalled a slight “hardening” of intrusive interstitials as negative ranking factors.
- Still highly relevant in 2025: Page experience remains a crucial ranking factor, and intrusive interstitials directly contradict its principles.
March - 2022
Two years later, Google Search Advocate, John Mueller, unearthed the topic again during Google’s SEO Office Hours, replying to a question about whether ranks can be influenced by pop-ups.
He stated that they can indeed impact your rank but that it’s a more complex topic than many realise — highlighting two key factors to consider:
- Google’s Page Experience Report: Designed to reduce visibility for any sites that use intrusive interstitials.
- Core web vitals: Key metrics that measure how well your website performs when visited. These are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures how long the largest content on the page takes to load.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures how stable your layout is as content shifts on the page.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Replaces FID (First Input Delay). INP is more accurate in identifying usability issues related to interactivity, including how quickly the page responds to user actions.
Pop-ups can significantly affect these metrics. For instance, an intrusive pop-up that delays page loading can negatively impact LCP. Similarly, pop-ups that shift the layout of your page can lead to high CLS scores. Pop-ups that hinder smooth interaction can directly impact INP and make the page less responsive, leading to poor user experiences.
- Still highly relevant in 2025: Core Web Vitals and Page Experience continue to be SEO signals that can indirectly affect rankings. Pop-ups that negatively affect these metrics can still hurt your SEO performance.
The 2023 Helpful Content Update
Poorly executed pop-ups were part of the focus of Google’s 2023 Helpful Content Update. Many sites that relied on intrusive pop-ups saw dramatic drops in rankings and, in some cases, a total loss of traffic.
While pop-ups weren’t the sole culprit, the update reminded that, when not thoughtfully implemented, pop-ups can harm your site’s performance.
- Still relevant in 2025: The focus on helpful content and user experience continues. Pop-ups that detract from this will still be problematic.
What about desktop pop-ups?
Although most of Google’s pop-up guidance is specific to mobile, this doesn’t give you carte blanche to bombard users with pop-ups on your desktop site.
Google’s overall goal is to reward websites that provide easy, uninterrupted access to content. If pop-ups on a desktop page make the user experience harder or less intuitive, it could hurt your site's performance in search rankings.
Has UX killed the pop-up?
In an ideal world, a website designed entirely with UX best practices wouldn’t need pop-ups—after all, they inherently disrupt the user journey. The best approach is to structure your site so that pop-ups are largely unnecessary, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience.
However, certain industries or business goals, pop-ups serve essential functions. For example, e-commerce sites may use exit-intent pop-ups to recover abandoned carts, and publishers often rely on them for newsletter sign-ups.
In these cases, the key is to implement pop-ups thoughtfully — ensuring they follow UX principles, appear at the right moments, and don’t frustrate users.
Poorly executed pop-ups might generate short-term conversions, but they risk damaging long-term engagement.
A study published on Search Engine Land that involved the tracking of a website’s organic traffic before and after implementing an interstitial illustrates what’s at stake when pop-ups are poorly designed.
The chart above shows an 87% drop in organic traffic after the interstitial went live. The homepage on which the interstitial appeared also lost 97% of its keyword rankings on desktop and 96% on mobile.
Expert tips for pop-up design
- Make it easy to dismiss – Always provide a clear, visible close button. Avoid deceptive designs that make closing difficult.
- Time it right – Use pop-ups strategically (e.g., exit intent, after engagement) rather than appearing immediately upon page load.
- Keep it relevant – Ensure the pop-up aligns with user intent (e.g., offering a discount to a first-time shopper, not a returning customer).
- Minimise intrusiveness – Avoid full-screen takeovers or multiple pop-ups in a single session.
- Optimise for mobile – Use responsive designs that don’t obstruct content or violate Google’s interstitial guidelines.
- Measure impact and refine – Make adjustments based on data rather than assumption.
How to measure the impact of your pop-ups on user experience
- Track bounce rates: Measure if users leave immediately after encountering a pop-up.
- Monitor engagement metrics: Evaluate clicks, time on site, and page views post-pop-up.
- Analyse conversion rates: Assess whether pop-ups drive intended actions without deterring users.
- Use heatmaps: Identify interaction patterns and frustration points caused by pop-ups.
- Conduct A/B testing: Compare performance of pages with and without pop-ups.
- Collect user feedback: Use surveys or feedback tools to gauge user sentiment.
So, should you use pop-ups in 2025?
In 2025, the most successful websites are those where pop-ups are used thoughtfully, or even avoided entirely, in favour of seamless, intuitive design. With the increasing emphasis on user experience and Core Web Vitals, it’s time to prioritise UI elements wherever possible, naturally guiding users to desired actions — without resorting to intrusive pop-ups.
At TDMP, we measure page experience and Core Web Vitals to ensure your site is optimised for both performance and user experience. If you're wondering how to integrate UX best practices into your SEO strategy, TDMP can help. With expertise in both areas, we create seamless, user-friendly experiences that align with Google’s expectations. Let’s talk.