Not long ago the mobile web was sluggish, clunky and at risk of being closed off by apps. Many publishers were concerned how this would affect their future and the promise of the open web. News publishers approached us at Google to help ensure their content was easy to distribute and read across the web. To tackle these challenges, we partnered alongside publishers and tech companies on an initiative to strengthen the web, especially on mobile. Three years ago this month, together we announced the launch of the open source Accelerated Mobile Pages project.
Fast forward to today and there have been over 11,000 commits to the AMP code and the AMP project’s pledge to ensure the web is fast and user-friendly for everyone remains the same. Since its launch in 2015, AMP has grown to power billions of pages across the web from tens of millions of domains. The project has grown from a small group of dedicated committers, to the more than 700 contributors globally, with the support of hundreds of companies. And just last month, over 80 contributors met in person at the first AMP Contributor Summit.
A strong community
Since 2015, we’ve seen the community come together to participate and shape the future of the project. From the core group of companies and developers who helped launch the project, to the more than 400 developers at AMP Conf in Amsterdam, and the over 20 cities where we’ve held AMP Roadshows, we are grateful and humbled by the enthusiasm. Working together with developers who have built the AMP core code, and implement it on their own websites has been critical to the project’s growth. The new governance model announced last month will allow the project to continue to grow while ensuring constituents have a formal voice in its direction.
Success with AMP
Publishers and ecommerce companies continue to see positive results with AMP and grow their investment in the format. Just last week, an international mobile web study commissioned by WP Engine and conducted by Vanson Bourne found that virtually all (99%) respondents can see benefits for their organization to use AMP. They also found that 50% of those using AMP for e-commerce applications saw an increase in conversion rate. “When you factor in the real cost savings and performance increases realized by using AMP on WordPress, the results speak for themselves,” said Mary Ellen Dugan, Chief Marketing Officer at WP Engine. “The increased use of this mobile technology is resulting in much better mobile experiences at less than half the cost of apps and providing demonstrable benefits to consumers and an enterprise’s bottom line.”
And last year a Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ study (commissioned by Google) found that AMP led to 2x increase in time spent on page among other positive metrics. Individually, we’ve heard from many of you about your success and have had a wave of new case studies published to amppproject.org to highlight these wins.
New surfaces for AMP
In three short years we’ve learned a lot, but remain as energized as ever for the potential of the project. Earlier this year we announced the developer preview for AMP stories and AMP for email, two new surfaces for AMP that bring the power and speed of the AMP format to new places. AMP stories, an open format for visual storytelling on the web, in particular has grown as Google plans to incorporate stories into surfaces like Google Image Search. New features are launching soon, including increased monetization and linking options.
You could say that the AMP Project has grown at, well, the speed of an AMP page. And while progress has been swift, there is plenty of work ahead. Stay tuned to our blog this week for updates from companies and developers on their work with the AMP project, as well as best practices and tips. Finally, subscribe to the AMP newsletter, your best source for AMP updates – including AMP Conf 2019!
Happy third birthday AMP! Onwards!
Posted by David Besbris, VP of Search at Google