Google has stated it will be favoring Accelerated Mobile Pages over their normal counterparts for news sites as it attempts to achieve four times faster page load times via mobile browsers.
Also, to accord priority to the AMP, Google will be accommodating those in a separate carousel that will be at the top of the search results.
Google also said that the order of pages listed inside the AMP carousel will continue to be the same as normal pages get listed as per traditional search results.
However, before proceeding any further, a short discourse on AMP will ease things further. To begin with, the AMP have the exact same look and feel like normal pages but have slight modifications built into them. For instance, the Accelerated Mobile Pages makes do with codes Google has recommended instead of some JavaScript codes that tend to slow down the page.
Further, the Accelerated Mobile Pages are made available via Google’s Content Delivery Network, which is another nice trick to cut down on network delays. The way it works is that the page is served via the server closest to the user’s location which again reduces the page load times.
Lastly, the AMP remain pre-fetched and can be launched just be tapping on them. Swiping across the display is all it takes to load other pages in the carousel.
The Accelerated Mobile Pages also have a greater focus on the main story content and are devoid of any pop-up ads. Also, the content gets precedence over video or ads along with other features all of which enhances readability and hence add to their appeal.
Also, AMP will have just a single tracker that will feed the myriad analytics firms such as Adobe Analytics, Omniture, and comScore.
Google has also ensured it’s easy for publishers to get into the AMP bandwagon, which requires the latter to follow just a few simple steps. Google stated it’s also working with WordPress to incorporate AMP in its platform. This will ensure the hundreds of thousands of WP-powered sites become automatically AMP-fied when finished.
Google’s AMP can also be compared to Facebook Instant, even though the latter has a much-limited scope compared to Google’s efforts. While Facebook Instant looks to host entire articles within Facebook, AMP is more open source in nature and is open to all who search via Google.
As of now, while it’s only news sites that can reap in the benefits of AMP, Google has stated the program will be enlarged in the coming months to include just about any sites, blogs and so on. AMP will also be integrated into Google’s Android and iOS search apps as well soon.
