AMP

What Is AMP?

AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a web framework originally created by Google in 2015 to deliver near-instant loading mobile pages. AMP pages use a restricted subset of HTML/CSS, load JavaScript asynchronously, and are cached on Google's CDN for instant delivery. AMP pages were once identified with a lightning bolt icon in mobile search results and were required for the Top Stories carousel.

AMP's Current Role in SEO

AMP's importance has significantly declined since 2021 when Google removed the AMP requirement for Top Stories and the Core Web Vitals update made page speed achievable without AMP. Google no longer gives AMP pages preferential treatment in search results. Many major publishers (including Twitter and several news outlets) have moved away from AMP. However, AMP remains useful for sites that struggle to achieve fast load times through other means.

Should You Use AMP?

For most websites, investing in Core Web Vitals optimization (fast server response, optimized images, minimal JavaScript) is a better approach than AMP. If you already have AMP pages, ensure they have content parity with your canonical pages. Monitor AMP-specific crawling and errors in Search Console. Consider migrating away from AMP if your standard pages achieve good Core Web Vitals scores.