Speed rules the internet, and that’s even more true on mobile. If a page isn’t loading fast enough, users may leave your site and find what they’re looking for elsewhere.
Facebook is trying to solve this problem with its Instant Articles, while Apple built a new app into its latest mobile OS that simplifies news stories for quicker mobile consumption. But both of those are closed to users of specific platforms. A new program from Google introduced today aims to bring the speed of those project to every site on the web.
Dubbed AMP, which stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, the project lets publishers bring rich content to consumers faster by building on an open-source HTML framework made of existing web technology. The new framework will allow pages to open almost instantaneously on any mobile platform, with every video, picture and link ready for the consumer’s eyes as soon as they touch it.
Google showed off AMP-enabled web pages within a search results page. Instead of the standard “News” section, there is a selection of cards leading to AMP-powered news pages, which pop up instantly when tapped. Users can scroll through to the other articles in the section by swiping left and right. You can see how speedy they are by searching for news-y term through this Google preview site on your smartphone, which should return AMP article as the first set of results. True to its cross-platform mission, it even works on mobile Safari.
https://youtu.be/v8jPVSQLn4g
Google said a huge number of companies are already working on building pages powered by AMP technology, including Pinterest, Adobe, WordPress.com, LinkedIn and Twitter. Publishers like Condé Nast, BuzzFeed, The Guardian and the New York Times are also already working with the framework to improve their load times.
Pages built with AMP still retain branding elements like a publisher’s traditional font and color scheme, rich content elements like maps, social plugins and videos, and advertisements from any ad network, as long as they “don’t detract from the user experience.” Google is even working on integrating paywalls and subscriptions into the AMP project.
