Googleweblight.com referral traffic is not referrer spam

Many webmasters and website owners around the globe have noticed googleweblight.com referral traffic in Google Analytics and suspect that it is referrer spam, but it’s not. It’s part of a cool new initiative by Google called GoogleWebLight and it’s a good thing if you get traffic from googleweblight.com.

Googleweblight.com referral traffic

What is GoogleWebLight?

GoogleWeblight is a new initiative by Google to help improve the browsing experience of millions of people around the world who are on slow internet speed. GoogleWebLight is typically appropiate for countries like Indonesia, India, Brazil where a majority of internet users are on 2G or very slow internet connection. GoogleWebLight will work only on Android devices and on chrome browser for people in countries with slow internet speed. The way GoogleWebLight works is that whenever a user is using Google search on an Android powered Chrome browser, and the browser detects a slow internet connection, the light version of mobile search will automatically kick-in. It will transcode the page to light version, and will help webpages to load way faster. This will help the webpage load 4X faster and will use up 80% less bandwidth consumption.

what is GoogleWebLight

Here’s an example of Amazon.com using GoogleWebLight. You can view more examples of what a webpage looks like on GoogleWebLight by using this link: http://googleweblight.com/?lite_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com and changing amazon.com to any other URL.

googleweblight

This is a comparison of the original Amazon.com website and Amazon.com on GoogleWebLight. By using a webpage speed test service we found that GoogleWebLight loaded Amazon.com 90% faster.

What does GoogleWeblight mean for websites?

When a user visits your website via Google search on an Android device, using Google Chrome browser, with a slow connection, the user will see a “lite” version of your webpage. All the elements, like large images, frames, sliders, and social media buttons might be removed and the user will be presented with the content  of your webpage only. GoogleWebLight will not affect ad networks like AdSense and others, or advertisements parked domains like Sedo. However, if you are an ad network, you can apply for being whitelisted by using the form link on this page.

Webmasters and website owners can opt out of GoogleWeblight (even though I do not suggest to do so), which means that only their original website will be served to the user, at anytime by setting the HTTP header “Cache-Control: no-transform” in your page response. Google will not transcode the page when they see the above HTTP header. It’s not recommended to opt out of GoogleWebLight because it can bring new visitors to your website, and if your website is slow Google will mark your website as slow in search results pages if GoogleWebLight is disabled.

Sean Doyle

Sean is a distinguished tech author and entrepreneur with over 20 years of extensive experience in cybersecurity, privacy, malware, Google Analytics, online marketing, and various other tech domains. His expertise and contributions to the industry have been recognized in numerous esteemed publications. Sean is widely acclaimed for his sharp intellect and innovative insights, solidifying his reputation as a leading figure in the tech community. His work not only advances the field but also helps businesses and individuals navigate the complexities of the digital world.

3 Responses

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