10 Things to Know About Google’s AMP Platform

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages mobile news service will take on the likes of Apple News and Facebook Instant Articles. Here’s what mobile users can expect from AMP.

While several companies are technically involved in AMP, Google is their leader. Google is the one that first introduced the service and is working with other firms to get it off the ground. Look for Google to continue to play a central role in AMP both before it gets off the ground and after.

Google isn’t the only heavy hitter that has signed on to help deliver the AMP news platform to users. AMP has the backing of professional social network LinkedIn, social site Pinterest and Twitter. The service also includes support from WordPress.com, which is the most popular content management system for content creators. Since AMP is a content platform first, that’s very important.

Ultimately, the idea for AMP is to provide a mobile news service to people around the globe. A wide range of publishers has signed on to the service, and Google says that it hopes to bring all kinds of content to the offering in the coming months. Look for much of the news that hits the Web to also make its way to the AMP platform once it launches.

One of the more interesting things about AMP is that it’s open source, which means the community can get its hands on it and make it a better platform. AMP’s chief competitor, Apple News, is closed and allows for little integration outside of publishers delivering their content to the service. Google’s decision to go open source means AMP could have far more support over time as an increasing number of developers sign on to help out.

Google announced on Nov. 24 that several top Web and print publishers have signed on to deliver their content through AMP. According to the AMP homepage, The Guardian, The New York Times, Time and News Corp. are among the many publishers that will allow content to run in AMP. The company says more publications will be coming online as time goes on.

One of the important things to understand about AMP is that Google doesn’t actually have an ad monopoly with the service. While the company will be running its AdSense and DoubleClick ads through AMP, it has brought other advertisers on board. AOL, Outbrain and OpenX will also be part of the “advertising experience” in AMP, and Google says more should be added in the future.

According to Google, market research shows that if a Web page takes nearly 10 seconds to load—something that isn’t so uncommon on mobile networks—over half of the users will leave the page before even seeing the content. AMP attempts to address that problem by boosting the speed at which content can be accessed. In fact, Google says AMP is focused on how quickly it can deliver content to users.

Although a main focus of AMP is to deliver news and other published content, Google says that it will also offer videos, photos, GIFs and other programming. The idea is to deliver all kinds of pages that would be typically viewed on a mobile device, delivering them through a more appealing means that focuses on readability and convenience.

Apple News is the obvious competitor, providing a platform within iOS that allows users to read the latest content from a wide range of sources. AMP will also compete with Facebook Instant Articles, as the social network says its service can deliver articles up to 10 times faster than the “standard mobile Web.” A battle is brewing between Google, Apple and Facebook.

The key feature that may ultimately help turn AMP into a success is its tie-in with Google Search. Google says that sometime early in 2016, it will start delivering mobile searchers to AMP through its search results. By doing so, the company will be able to drive significant traffic to AMP, beef up its advertising revenue and potentially provide a desirable destination for companies looking to capitalize on the growing trend of mobile news.