Google AMP: One Year Later

The numbers are in, and consumers have given Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative a thumbs-up. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Adobe Digital Insights will be releasing a new report that analyzes over 1.7 trillion visits to over 16,000 mobile websites (between Jan. 2014 and Jan. 2017). This data — aggregated and anonymous — comes through Adobe Analytics within Adobe Marketing Cloud.

In this report, we reveal new data showing that, as of December 2016, top publishers within the United States now see seven percent of all their traffic — across devices — coming through Google AMP.

AMP has also grown 405 percent from when usage first began picking up in April 2016 through December 2016. Further, in November 2016 — during the busy election season when coverage ramped up considerably across the board — AMP traffic spiked at 896 percent.

What we’re seeing is that, on the one-year anniversary of Google’s efforts to speed up the mobile web, many consumers have welcomed this technology as a fast and efficient way to access content on their mobile devices.

To AMP or Not to AMP?
In a world where consumers are increasingly fragmented across devices and platforms, media companies have lots to consider when deciding how best to get their content in front of audiences. There’s no one-size-fits-all, and every channel has its drawbacks as well as its opportunities.

Google has a vested interest in the web, given their core business, and their investment in AMP makes a lot of sense. But, at an industry level, this technology truly does enhance how consumers access content on mobile devices. Facebook has a similar deployment with Instant Articles. Anybody who has tried Google AMP can attest to how smooth the experience is. And, for a media company, this is what audiences are craving.

Within Adobe Marketing Cloud, we have the pleasure of working with some of the largest media companies in the US. When AMP was first made available, we announced our support and have worked with customers to successfully implement the technology.

What we’ve found is that, beyond the technical hurdles — such as implementing the proper tracking before deployment — there’s a small cultural shift that must happen as well. Developers must sit down at the table with designers to determine the best approach that satisfies both parties. At the same time, AMP is also forcing function for brands to think not just mobile first — but mobile only.

In Sum
As stated previously, AMP now represents seven percent of traffic for top publishers in the US, and this will likely increase, especially as smartphones become the dominant way for consumers to interact with the world around them. Digital transformation is upending the media industry in so many ways, and brands will have to keep a close eye on developments like AMP to make sure the experiences they deliver are stellar.

AMP is a technology to watch in the coming years, and it is setting itself up to disrupt not only the mobile web for the media industry, but also the mobile web as a whole. If your company is ready to make the jump to AMP, make sure that measurement is front and center — because success that can’t be measured is no success at all.

For details on how to both set up and track AMP pages, check out our AMP resources. Happy AMPing!