Have you heard of Google AMP? That stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, and it’s a way of making webpages so that they load faster and display more efficiently on mobile devices. Oh, and it puts your website under Google’s control. Polemic Digital has an explanarant (that’s part explanation, part rant) on AMP making the case not to adopt it. It’s an interesting read, and here’s a taste:
AMP allows Google to basically take over hosting the web as well. The Google AMP Cache will serve AMP pages instead of a website’s own hosting environment, and also allow Google to perform their own optimisations to further enhance user experience.
As a side benefit, it also allows Google full control over content monetisation. No more rogue ad networks, no more malicious ads, all monetisation approved and regulated by Google. If anything happens that falls outside of the AMP standard’s restrictions, the page in question simply becomes AMP-invalid and is ejected from the AMP cache – and subsequently from Google’s results. At that point the page might as well not exist any more.
Check It Out: Making the Case against Google AMP
Last I heard Google is not an ISP, therefore any optimization Google does with caching will still meet with a brick-wall of your ISP’s server speed that you paid for. Right????
Sounds like Google is hedging against the threatened gutting of net neutrality. Also, Google has been a partner for a while with Facebook, Intel and Microsoft in the Alliance for Affordable Internet. Being an optional service Google won’t be in any trouble with Anti-trust especially when you have people that choose not to visit Youtube or monetize their Youtube videos, or Blogger or use Google search or Waze or make and use websites to easily make money and have it tracked using Adsense, Adwords etc…. Google is the 2nd most valuable Co in the world – not for nothing, but a person is not forced to take advantage of Google’s services, right? Sounds like Apple’s sandbox is jealous of Google’s.
After reading the article I see Google getting itself into MASSIVE antitrust issues with this. The EU will be the first to pounce,
I don’t use Google unless absolutely necessary.