In April, Google announced that they would be discontinuing the “Mobile Usability” report, the Mobile-Friendly Test tool, and the Mobile-Friendly Test API within Search Console. This announcement has now come to fruition, and these tools are no longer available.
In a recent tweet, Google confirmed the retirement of these tools, expressing gratitude to website owners for their collaboration in making the web a better place. Consequently, all references to the Mobile-Friendly Test and the Mobile Usability Report have been removed from Google’s search help documentation. Users attempting to access mobile usability reports in the Search Console will now be redirected to the overview page.
While the loss of these resources was met with disappointment by many, an alternative solution has been proposed by Kristina Azarenko. Her tweet contains a video demonstrating an alternative approach.
Notably, on December 1st, Google officially retired the Mobile-Friendly Test tool. This tool had long been favored by technical SEOs for checking the rendered HTML of a page, especially when Google Search Console’s URL Inspect tool was not accessible.
So, what should you use in place of the Mobile-Friendly Test tool? The answer is simple: switch to the Rich Results Test tool. It’s a straightforward process:
- Enter the URL.
- Click on “View tested page.”
- Examine the “HTML” tab for the rendered HTML you need.
While these tools were invaluable, Google’s ever-changing ecosystem sometimes necessitates adaptation. In the digital realm, change is constant, and we must embrace new tools and strategies to navigate it effectively.