Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) Rollout in Google’s Organic Search Results

Google have begun a global rollout of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) within the mobile organic search results.

Previously, AMPs appeared within the “Top Stories” section of the mobile search results, providing users with fast-loading articles. With the latest rollout however, users will now start to see AMP results within the organic listings as well, labelled with the AMP tag and icon.

Image Source: Google Inside Search Blog

If a webpage has an AMP version, this will replace the non-AMP webpage within the mobile search listings, providing users with a faster loading page that uses less of their mobile data.

There is no ranking boost associated with using AMP for webpages, nor will sites be penalised in search results for not making use of AMP.

What are Accelerated Mobile Pages?

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) are web pages that make use of AMP technology. This is an open source initiative for building static content that renders extremely fast in comparison to a standard HTML page. In short, AMP is essentially a kind of stripped-down form of HTML.

For more details on what AMP consists of, read more about the AMP project here.

What Does the Rollout Mean for Website Owners?

For website owners and publishers who currently make use of AMP, these versions of the page will now start to see more exposure in the search results than their standard HTML version as Google will display the AMP page instead.

Although AMP does not provide a ranking advantage, as searchers become more aware of AMP and what it means for them, they are more likely to click on AMP results over non-AMP results for a faster loading page. This could mean greater click-through-rates for AMP pages, and in turn increased leads or sales.

For site owners not currently using AMP, this should act as encouragement to begin implementing AMP throughout the important pages of their site.

What about Google’s Users?

With AMP results appearing in organic mobile listings, this will begin to lead to faster web browsing and searching for Google users on mobile devices. Not only will pages load faster, but less mobile data will be used when using 3G or 4G connections.

AMP is an attempt to create a more mobile-friendly web experience with greater user engagement. Although web traffic on mobile is significant, engagement levels are not, with most mobile user time spent in apps.

The introduction of AMP listings within mobile search results should help to deliver a faster and better experience to mobile users. Although a global launch has begun, not everyone will be seeing the AMP results yet, with the rollout expected to be completed by the end of the year.