We know the Google mobile-first index isn't launching any time soon and there were rumors it won't go out in 2017 because hitting quality neutral has been a harder thing to achieve than they once thought.
Gary Illyes from Google said in the mobile-first panel at SMX Advanced yesterday that it is now likely not going to launch until 2018. Gary said we are "many quarters" away from a launch. In fact, John Mueller recently said they might even launch it in batches. I even asked and pushed for a sandbox preview but was denied again.
Matt McGee at Search Engine Land has an excellent write up on it.
Here are some tweets from the attendees:
Google mobile first index is many quarters away from launch #smx
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) June 13, 2017
Do not freak out about the mobile first index. We don't have a timeline for the launch yet. It's probably many quarters away@methode #smx
— Greg Gifford (@GregGifford) June 13, 2017
No official start date for mobile-first indexing, many quarters away, BUT it is coming, so get responsive - @methode #SMX #SEO
— Chloe Yeung (@seo_chlo) June 13, 2017
Mobile first is going to be a BIG change. But @methode says "Don't freak out." There is no timeline for launch. Many quarters away. #SMX
— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) June 13, 2017
No timeline for mobile first launch... but probably many quarters away. @methode #smx
— Jennifer Slegg (@jenstar) June 13, 2017
Don’t freak out! Launch of @Google mobile-first index is probably many quarters away. Want people to have time to prepare #SEO #14a #smx
— Brooke Fritz Willard (@bfritzie) June 13, 2017
We dont have a timeline - it is quarters away. We want to communicate a lot to prepare sites for this@methode #SMX
— Avinash Conda (@avinashconda) June 13, 2017
Forum discussion at Twitter.
