AMP, originally short for Accelerated Mobile Pages, is an open web framework designed to make pages load very quickly. It does this through constraints such as asynchronous JavaScript, statically sized elements and controlled resource loading. For years it was closely tied to news publishing because of Top Stories, but Google announced in 2021 that AMP would no longer be required for that carousel.
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How AMP works
AMP pages follow rules that prevent common causes of slow loading. Only asynchronous JavaScript is allowed, custom code is limited to the amp-script component, and third-party scripts run in sandboxed iframes where they cannot block rendering. Styles must be inline, with a size limit set by the framework.
Declaring the size of elements in advance also lets the browser lay out the page before resources arrive.
AMP in Google Search today
Google's April 2021 announcement on page experience said that any page meeting Google News policies would be eligible for the Top Stories carousel, with AMP no longer required, and that the AMP badge icon would be removed.
Google still documents how AMP pages appear in Search. They are indexed like other web pages, and they should let people get the same content and complete the same actions as the canonical version where possible. Google also says AMP on desktop does not get search-specific features.
Should you use it?
A new SaaS marketing site has little reason to adopt AMP. Performance work on a standard site can be measured directly with Core Web Vitals, without the framework's limits. Google says good scores do not guarantee top rankings, so neither route is a ranking shortcut.
If you run AMP pages already, removing them is a migration. Plan redirects from AMP URLs to their canonical pages and check that analytics and ads still work.
Example
Retiring a leftover AMP blog
Hypothetical CRM Marrowfield still had AMP versions of its blog from an earlier plugin. They used different templates, missed product links, and had to be kept in sync with the main posts.
After checking that the standard pages performed well in field data, the team redirected each AMP URL to its canonical post and removed the plugin, leaving one template to maintain.
Common mistakes
Adopting AMP as a ranking tactic
Google has said AMP pages are indexed like other web pages, and it is no longer required for Top Stories. Use it only if the framework itself suits you.
Removing AMP without redirects
Old AMP URLs may still have links and visits. Redirect each to its canonical page rather than letting them return errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Google announced in 2021 that AMP would no longer be required, as long as pages meet Google News policies.
Google says AMP pages are indexed just like other web pages. Page experience is measured on whichever version people get, so no AMP advantage should be assumed.
Keep reading
- Top Stories: Top Stories is a Google results feature that shows recent news articles for timely queries. AMP has not been required for it since 2021.
- Core Web Vitals: Core Web Vitals are Google's three user-experience metrics: loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS).
- Page Experience: Page experience is Google's term for aspects of using a page beyond its content, such as Core Web Vitals, HTTPS, mobile usability and intrusive interstitials.
- Canonical URL: A canonical URL is the version of a page search engines treat as the main one when several URLs show the same or very similar content.
- Cache-Control: Cache-Control is an HTTP header that tells browsers and CDNs whether and how long to store a response. Good caching makes repeat loads and crawls faster.
- Canonicalization: Canonicalization is the process of choosing one preferred URL when several pages have duplicate or very similar content, so search engines know which version to show.
- Chrome UX Report: The Chrome UX Report is Google's public dataset of real-user performance from Chrome. It is the field data behind Core Web Vitals in Search Console.
- Click Depth: Click depth is the number of clicks it takes to reach a page from the homepage. Pages buried deep tend to be crawled less often and get less internal link value.
