From Wednesday, Google will change the way it ranks search, prioritising companies that have mobile-friendly websites when people use the search engine on smart phones or tablet computers.
For businesses with desktop only websites, the risk is they will plummet in Google’s search rankings.
Dan McGarry is chief technologist at the Pacific Institute of Public Policy in Vanuatu.
He says that Google’s well-intentioned push to make information easy to access on mobile phones will initially harm business, governments and the media in the Pacific which do not have the resources to optimise their websites.
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