AMP

Understanding AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)

AMP was launched by Google in 2015 to address the mobile web's speed problem. AMP pages use a stripped-down version of HTML with restrictions on JavaScript and CSS, forcing pages to load almost instantly. Google originally cached AMP pages on its own CDN and served them directly from search results, giving AMP content a speed advantage and preferential placement in the Top Stories carousel.

In 2021, Google removed the AMP requirement for Top Stories, meaning any fast-loading page can now appear in the carousel regardless of whether it uses AMP. This significantly reduced AMP's SEO advantage. Google also stopped serving pages from its AMP cache in 2022, further diminishing the framework's unique benefits.

Today, AMP still exists as an open-source project, but its adoption has declined significantly. Most publishers who adopted AMP primarily for the SEO benefits have migrated back to standard HTML with good Core Web Vitals optimization. The technology remains useful in specific contexts — particularly for publishers serving ads in constrained environments — but is no longer considered essential for SEO.

Why AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) Matters

Understanding AMP's history matters because it illustrates a broader SEO principle: never build your strategy around a single platform's proprietary technology. Sites that invested heavily in AMP-specific infrastructure faced costly migrations when Google changed its policies. The lesson is to focus on universal performance best practices rather than platform-specific shortcuts.

If your site currently uses AMP, the decision to migrate away should be based on data. Compare Core Web Vitals scores between your AMP and non-AMP pages. If your standard pages meet the Good threshold for all three Core Web Vitals metrics, the SEO case for maintaining AMP is weak.

Best Practices

• Prioritize Core Web Vitals optimization on standard HTML pages rather than implementing AMP for SEO benefits
• If migrating away from AMP, implement proper 301 redirects from AMP URLs to their canonical counterparts
• Monitor traffic and rankings closely during any AMP migration to catch issues early
• Focus on delivering fast, mobile-friendly experiences through standard web performance techniques
• Evaluate AMP on its technical merits for your specific use case, not on outdated SEO assumptions
• Ensure your non-AMP pages pass Core Web Vitals assessments before removing AMP versions