Google's page layout algorithm update
On October 9, 2012 Google re-launched the page layout algorithm. It focuses on penalizing pages that are top heavy with ads.
Quote:
We’ve heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it’s difficult to find the actual content, they aren’t happy with the experience. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change.
If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.
It's "Top Heavy 2" As Google Rolls Out Update To Its Page Layout Algorithm