Google on Tuesday rolled out a developer preview of its new AMP story format, which is designed to give content publishers an easy way to deliver news and information on mobile devices with visually rich, tap-through stories.
"On mobile devices, users browse lots of articles, but engage with few in-depth," noted Rudy Galfi, product manager for AMP at Google.
"Images, videos and graphics help publishers to get their readers' attention as quickly as possible and keep them engaged through immersive and easily consumable visual information," he pointed out.
Built on the AMP infrastructure, stories are displayed on the mobile Web at speeds that rival resident apps.
In addition, AMP story pages can be hosted at a publisher's website and linked to other locations on the site to enhance discovery.
As part of the AMP ecosystem, discovery platforms can take advantage of pre-renderable pages, optimized video loading and caching to optimize delivery to users.
Jumping Speed Hurdle
Faster-loading pages could alter surfers' behavior on the mobile Web, suggested Matthew Papa, vice president of supply at Sonobi.
"Google AMP can support the content-raiding approach that most mobile consumers have, because it greatly reduces the load time of the content, which is where most consumers abandon the opportunity to view it," he told TechNewsWorld.
Absence of Ads
To make content creation in AMP stories easier, the format includes preset but flexible layout templates, standardized UI controls, and components for adding follow-on content.
"One of the biggest benefits of the format is its ability to create engaging content easily," said Regina Buckley, senior vice president for digital operations and business development at Time, recently acquired by Meredith.
Meredith has participated in the development of AMP stories, along with CNN, Conde Nast, Hearst, Mashable, Mic, Vox Media and The Washington Post.
One drawback to this early version of the format is the absence of advertising support.
Contrast With Facebook
Google's approach to working with publishers contrasts starkly with Facebook's.
"AMP was built to support the publisher and their content, while ensuring that content is hosted on the publisher's site with AMP formatting and speed," Papa said.
"Facebook Instant Articles is just a cached version of the article that is hosted on Facebook," he pointed out. "User engagement is limited to Facebook's walled garden and normally no other content from that media organization is accessible from the instant article. AMP allows for more discovery and engagement between the user and the publisher."
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