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Google engineer extraordinaire Matt Cutts has announce today that they updated the algorithm to penalize websites who hide content lower down in the website. Above the fold is a newspaper term that refers to what you see as soon as the page loads. Google tells you exactly where they want the best information. Here is their browser size recommendation chart .
What this means for web designers is, its time to re-think all those giant images scrolling across the top of the screen, taking up that now prime real estate. People in the UX world have known for a long time that people just hate scrolling to find whatever they searched for that took them to your site. Matt held a live Q and A session in september of 2011 where he talked about how important above the fold content is.
The prime location is 1000px wide and 550px tall. That means the position of ads will likely have to change even though you will get the best click through with ads above the fold. Maybe google doesn't want to pay for people clicking in that prime area. I know I wouldn't want ads I had to pay for above the fold. I am kidding of course but logically I would be amazed if it wasn't at least discussed. Its a win win they can look like they want to improve user experience and force ads below the fold making them less likely to be viewed or interacted with. I am a big fan of putting the most important information above the fold, and that never includes ads.
Here is a link to Matt Cutts blog post
Share this information Google updates Algo to effect above the fold content
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