Does your website have a 3rd party ad server that loads slower than John Goodman at an all-you-can–eat buffet?

If so, you might be in for a rude awakening when it comes to search rankings. Today, Google announced that it has added a new tool to Google Webmaster Tools: Site Performance. This information should be largely viewed as a precursor to the inevitable: sites with slow load times will be buried in search engine results pages.

Google’s mantra for websites has always been simple: do right by your user. Making your user wait 30-45 seconds so they can view an intrusive interstitial or banner is definitely not doing right by your user.

The pressure isn’t just on publishers—accountability is going to be placed firmly on the ad servers such as Point Roll and Double Click that can have the potential to greatly inhibit site load times. What’s the point of an ad server if it’s crashing your traffic?

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