Text that is too small to read on smartphones and links that are too close together will see websites punished.

The rules are being implemented to reward websites that make it easy to view content on smartphones.

However, some experts are warning of possible 'Mobilegeddon' as many businesses aren't prepared for the new rules.

Companies spend huge sums of cash to appear high up in Google rankings, but if their websites don't work well on smartphones, they could see their web traffic disappear overnight.

Google announced the new rules in February, leaving many smaller businesses limited time to update their websites and many are simply unaware of the impact.

Kevin Dallas, Chief Product Officer, Worldpay eCommerce said: "This move by Google should send a message to companies whose websites are poorly configured for smartphone users that optimising for mobile is no longer a matter of choice.

"With the number of smartphone users only set to grow, businesses simply can’t afford to become invisible to mobile consumers.

"Few would argue that Google’s search rankings can make or break a business, and as of today organisations that don’t deliver a decent end-to-end mobile experience risk learning this the hard way.”

(dailystar.co.uk)