Google AMP – Recommendation or Mandate

How google AMP is threatening the mobile landscape democracy

We have all being there. You are reading the morning news on your phone and suddenly a video with an attractive description appears. You decide to click on it to watch, it loads, keeps loading, you then decide to refresh the page or check the Wi-Fi. Once it finally opens you are instantly bombarded with pre-rolls and other ad formats. This is problem Google try to fix when introducing Google Accelerated Mobile Pages, AMP. A promise of a better fast mobile experience for users and publishers. The questions are: is it really a necessity? How will it affect my brand? And most importantly, how will it affect site rankings if you decide not to be part of it?

How it works

Basically, it’s a Google mobile framework build in order to accelerate the loading process on mobile sites. You will have to build your mobile site through this framework and follow the restrictions and guidelines of Google AMP.

The promise

Faster: The AMP framework improves the loading process of a mobile site, according to Google “often to a point where the load appears to be instant”. Understanding that 40 percent of users drop off after 3 seconds, a fast loading site is critical. The average loading time of an AMP site is less than one second.

Higher Rankings: Google will be taking into consideration if your mobile site is AMP when providing a site rank, meaning if you do not comply, your site might lose some ranking points and be placed under other sites that do.

Placement: Those sites who adopt AMP can be featured on the carousel format on Google first page. This format has proven to be one of the best performers in the Google platform in terms of click’s and engagement.

However, there is a reason why not everyone is jumping on the Google AMP wagon. For some brands Google’s AMP framework restriction goes against some functionalities important for the brand. Also “conveniently” AMP It is not flexible in allowing other analytics platforms other than Google Analytics. There is also a limitation of widgets available, for example it does not support Facebook like box.

In conclusion Google is trying to standardize mobile optimization. The promise of a better mobile experience is a great one to have, however, those who don’t want to follow the framework shouldn’t be punished. Google has the power to make sites and brands obey their mandate because if they refuse they can say goodbye to Google’s first page which is something those sites who have that privilege to be on, can’t afford.

APM is still at an early stage and Google hasn’t given out too many clues as to the influence of the AMP on rankings but as a brand you might want to consider making the move if you haven’t done so. God knows you don’t want to be on Google’s bad side.