What Is Accelerated Mobile Pages?
Accelerated Mobile Pages, commonly referred to as AMP, is an open-source framework developed in collaboration with Google and launched in 2015. It allows publishers and developers to create versions of their web pages that load almost instantly on mobile devices. AMP achieves this speed through three core mechanisms: a restricted subset of HTML called AMP HTML, a JavaScript library that controls resource loading (AMP JS), and Google's AMP Cache, a content delivery network that pre-renders and serves AMP pages directly from Google's servers.
When a user searches on Google and clicks an AMP result, they are often served a pre-loaded page from Google's cache, making the page appear to load in under a second. The AMP HTML specification limits which HTML tags and CSS are permitted, effectively preventing the heavy scripts, large images, and third-party widgets that typically slow mobile pages down.
AMP was initially highly important for publishers seeking to appear in Google's Top Stories carousel on mobile search. At launch, AMP was a prerequisite for Top Stories eligibility. However, Google removed this requirement in 2021, replacing it with Core Web Vitals as the qualifying metric. This fundamentally changed the strategic calculus for AMP adoption.
For South African publishers and e-commerce businesses, AMP remains relevant but is no longer the priority it once was. A well-optimised technical SEO strategy focused on Core Web Vitals will generally deliver better results than implementing AMP, which adds complexity and limits design flexibility. South African news publishers, however, may still find AMP useful for delivering fast experiences to readers on slower mobile networks.
Accelerated Mobile Pages In Practice
The two scenarios below are illustrative examples, not Juicy Designs client results. The figures indicate the scale of effect that Accelerated Mobile Pages work typically produces, so treat them as indicative rather than measured.
Picture a Johannesburg-based news publication that wants to improve the mobile experience for its readers, many of whom browse on 4G networks in areas with variable signal. The editorial team implements AMP for its article pages, creating a parallel AMP version of each article alongside the standard version. When a reader searches Google on their phone and clicks a result, they would receive the AMP version served from Google's cache, which could load in under a second even on a slower connection.
Tracking engagement through Google Search Console, a publisher in this position would typically see lower bounce rates and higher scroll depth on AMP article pages compared to its standard mobile pages. It would also likely run into limitations: a subscription paywall and some advertising placements require workarounds in the AMP framework, and maintaining two versions of each article adds extra editorial workflow steps.
Now imagine a South African e-commerce retailer in the same situation that evaluates AMP for its product pages but decides against it. Its priority is conversion rate, which relies on interactive features and checkout flows that do not work within AMP's constraints. Instead, it might invest in image optimisation, lazy loading, and server-side rendering to improve standard page speed, which could plausibly achieve similar Core Web Vitals scores without the restrictions of AMP.
What Accelerated Mobile Pages are
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source framework, originally backed by Google, for building stripped-down, fast-loading versions of web pages designed to load almost instantly on mobile devices. AMP works by using a restricted, streamlined subset of HTML and JavaScript and by allowing pages to be cached and served extremely quickly (historically from Google's AMP cache), so that AMP pages load very fast on mobile, which was the framework's central aim: near-instant mobile page loads at a time when slow mobile pages were a widespread problem. AMP was heavily promoted by Google in the mid-to-late 2010s, and for a period AMP pages received prominent treatment in mobile search (such as appearing in a dedicated mobile news carousel), which gave publishers a strong incentive to adopt it. However, AMP came with significant trade-offs, chiefly the constraints of its restricted format (limiting design, functionality and flexibility) and the complexity of maintaining separate AMP versions of pages, and over time the landscape shifted: Google removed the requirement and special search advantages for AMP (for example, dropping the AMP requirement for the mobile news carousel), and improvements in web performance practices and standards (like Core Web Vitals) meant that fast mobile pages could be achieved without AMP. As a result, AMP's importance has declined substantially, and it is now largely optional and much less used than at its peak. Understanding Accelerated Mobile Pages matters mainly for context and for making sound decisions about mobile performance: AMP was a framework for fast mobile pages that Google once strongly favoured but has since de-emphasised, so knowing what AMP is, and that it is no longer required or specially advantaged, helps a business avoid over-investing in a declining framework and instead focus on achieving fast, mobile-friendly pages through modern performance practices.
Is AMP still worth using
Whether Accelerated Mobile Pages are worth using today is, for most businesses, answered by AMP's decline in importance and the availability of better alternatives: for most sites, AMP is no longer necessary or worthwhile, and the effort is better directed at achieving fast, mobile-friendly pages through modern performance optimisation. The reasons AMP has become largely unnecessary are: Google removed the special search advantages that once incentivised AMP (such as the AMP requirement for the mobile news carousel), so AMP no longer confers the search benefits it once did; Google's shift to Core Web Vitals and page-experience signals means that any fast, well-optimised page, whether or not it uses AMP, can perform well, so the fast loading AMP provided can now be achieved through standard performance optimisation (efficient code, image optimisation, caching, a content delivery network, reducing render-blocking resources, and so on) without AMP's constraints; and AMP's trade-offs (its restrictive format limiting design and functionality, and the burden of maintaining separate AMP versions) make it costly relative to its now-diminished benefits. On whether AMP improves rankings: AMP is not itself a ranking factor, and using AMP does not directly boost rankings; what matters is the page's actual speed and mobile-friendliness (via Core Web Vitals and page experience), which AMP was one way to achieve but is no longer the only or best way, so a fast, mobile-friendly non-AMP page performs just as well, and AMP offers no ranking advantage over an equally-fast standard page. As to whether AMP is still relevant: for most South African websites, AMP is no longer necessary and generally not worth adopting, since fast mobile performance can be achieved through modern optimisation without AMP's limitations, and AMP has lost its special advantages; some publishers with existing AMP implementations may continue them, and AMP is not harmful where already well-implemented, but new adoption is rarely warranted. For a South African business, the practical guidance is not to invest in AMP for new sites, but instead to achieve fast, mobile-friendly pages through standard performance optimisation (optimising images and code, caching, a content delivery network, good Core Web Vitals, responsive mobile-friendly design), which delivers the fast mobile experience that matters, without AMP's constraints and maintenance burden, and with no ranking disadvantage. Because AMP has been de-emphasised by Google and superseded by broader performance practices, the sound approach is to focus on genuine page speed and mobile-friendliness through modern methods rather than on AMP, which is largely a legacy framework of declining relevance for most sites today.
FAQ
Is AMP still relevant for South African websites in 2025?
AMP is less strategically important than it was in 2020. Google no longer requires AMP for Top Stories eligibility. Most South African sites are better served by optimising Core Web Vitals on their standard responsive pages rather than maintaining a separate AMP version.
Does AMP improve Google search rankings?
AMP itself is not a ranking factor. However, because AMP pages load very quickly, they tend to score well on Page Experience signals. Google's ranking systems reward fast, user-friendly pages regardless of whether they use AMP or standard responsive design.
Is AMP still relevant for South African websites?
For most, no longer necessary or worth adopting. Google has removed AMP's special search advantages, and fast mobile performance can now be achieved through standard performance optimisation (image and code optimisation, caching, a content delivery network, good Core Web Vitals) without AMP's restrictive format and maintenance burden. Some publishers with existing AMP may continue it, but new adoption is rarely warranted; focus on genuine speed and mobile-friendliness through modern methods instead.