The Rise of AMP
AMP, short for Accelerated Mobile Pages, was introduced by Google in 2015 to enhance the mobile web experience. Its primary goal was to provide faster-loading versions of web pages for mobile users, particularly in search results. Pages using AMP were cached and served by Google, often appearing with a lightning bolt icon to indicate speed.
AMP was a stripped-down version of HTML, designed to enforce best practices in performance. By limiting third-party scripts, restricting CSS size, and loading content asynchronously, AMP pages could load almost instantly on mobile devices. Publishers, news outlets, and blogs quickly adopted it to gain visibility in Google Top Stories and improve Core Web Vitals metrics.
Benefits and Drawbacks
The benefits were clear early on: reduced bounce rates, improved search visibility, and increased user satisfaction due to page speed. However, there were also significant criticisms. AMP limited creative freedom and imposed Google's ecosystem, with some accusing it of being a walled garden that prioritized Google's control over open web standards.
Additionally, AMP often caused complications with monetization. Ad formats were limited and required special configurations. Custom JavaScript, critical for dynamic functionality, was restricted, making it difficult to offer rich, interactive experiences.
Shift in Web Standards
As modern web technologies improved, the need for AMP diminished. With better optimization tools, responsive design, lazy loading, and improved browsers, websites could now achieve similar or even better performance without the constraints of AMP.
In 2021, Google removed the AMP requirement for its Top Stories carousel, signaling a major shift in its stance. This opened the door for publishers to prioritize performance using their own technologies, without the need to maintain a separate AMP version of their content.
Is AMP Still Relevant?
Today, AMP is no longer essential for most sites. While it still exists and can be useful in specific cases—such as email or lightweight landing pages—mainstream adoption has declined. Developers are instead focused on performance best practices using standard frameworks, like Next.js, and tools like Lighthouse or Core Web Vitals reports.
For most modern websites, building fast, mobile-first pages with responsive layouts and optimized assets offers greater flexibility and better long-term sustainability than relying on AMP.