Google: AMP pages will override app deep links for the ‘foreseeable future’

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Tech giant Google has revealed that AMP pages will still override app deep links.

Speaking at SMX East on Tuesday, Google head of Global Product Partnerships Adam Greenberg addressed the issue of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). He revealed that AMP pages will take precedence over app deep links for the “foreseeable future,” writes Barry Schwartz for SearchEngineLand.

Google hastily updates changelog after rollout

After Google began the rollout of AMP to core mobile results, the company quickly reported that AMP pages would override app deep links to the changelog. In layman’s terms that means that a user can install a publisher’s app, search for a given term and click on mobile results, expecting the content to open on the app. However it will now be the AMP page which is displayed on the phone, rather than in-app content.

The tech giant has been working hard on App Indexing in the past few years. In this way it helped to encourage developers to add deep links and App Indexing to apps. This includes installing new apps from mobile search results, adding support for app indexing for iOS apps, boosting rankings for apps that use app indexing, reporting on Google Search Console and other initiatives.

However it now looks like your app indexing won’t drive visits to your iOS or Android app if your website uses both app indexing and AMP. According to Google the company has “found that AMP helps us deliver” an improved user experience “because it is consistently fast and reliable.”

Tech giant believes people prefer AMP pages

“AMP uses 10x less data than a non-AMP page,” added the company. Google later said that “people really like AMP” and are “more likely to click on a result when it’s presented in AMP format versus non-AMP.”

The company also said that they “support both approaches,” but “with AMP — and the ability to deliver a result on Google Search in a median time of less than a second — we know we can provide that reliable and consistently fast experience.”

Developments have led to criticism from some publishers, especially those who have kept up with the new features that Google has asked them to deploy. This could mean specialized Google Custom Search features to app indexing, authorship, AMP, HTTPS, mobile-friendly, and more.

Publishers criticize continued priority for AMP pages

Some argue that users who download an app, keep it and view content within it would rather have content displayed in app rather than on an AMP page. However at this stage it looks like Google doesn’t hold the same opinion.

At the end of the day, Google holds all of the cards in this sort of situation. The aim of the AMP initiative is to increase the speed of internet access for mobile data users, by cutting down on how much data is contained in each web page.

AMP uses smart caching to make sure that both adverts and content are displayed well. Some of the most frequent complaints from mobile users involve badly displayed ads and web pages.

The aim is to increase the number of views for web pages, which should be a good thing for publishers. However it seems like not everyone is happy with the direction that Google is taking. Perhaps the company will change its policy in the future, but judging from the latest comments it seems that we could be waiting a while.

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