When Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) launched in 2015, it promised near-instant mobile load times and upgraded visibility in Google’s Top Stories and Discover feeds. But in 2025, AMP sits at a crossroads: once essential, now optional. This guide helps you determine whether AMP still deserves a spot in your SEO toolkit.
📉 What Caused AMP’s Decline?
Initially, AMP was nearly mandatory for mobile publishers—Google favored AMP pages in news carousels, and the fast-loading format helped sites rank better. However, recent shifts have undercut its necessity:
- In 2021, Google stopped requiring AMP for its Top Stories feed .
- Top media outlets including The Guardian, Wired, and BuzzFeed have abandoned AMP .
- Performance-first SEO is now built around Core Web Vitals—LCP, FID, CLS—rather than AMP .
In short: AMP lacks the competitive edge it once offered.
✅ Where AMP Still Wins
Despite its declining prominence, AMP continues to shine in a few niche scenarios:
- Speed and caching: AMP’s stripped-down structure and Google’s CDN deliver lightning-fast load times — often under one second .
- Google Discover and News feeds: Some publishers report up to 75% of mobile traffic through AMP—a trend echoed in Quintype data .
- Simpler UX: For content-heavy publishers lacking in-house optimization, AMP serves as a plug‑and‑play speed solution .
Still, this success is largely limited to publishers with narrow use cases.
❌ Where AMP Falls Short
Here’s why AMP no longer fits the needs of most websites:
- Rigid and limited framework: AMP restricts JS and CSS, limiting interactivity and creativity .
- Brand dilution & tracking issues: AMP pages sometimes load from Google caches, masking the original domain and hindering analytics .
- Heavy maintenance: Maintaining dual content versions (AMP + standard) increases development effort .
- Performance now achievable otherwise: Modern frameworks (Next.js, PWAs), responsive images, lazy loading, and optimized hosting can match AMP speeds without its tradeoffs .
Reddit voices echo these concerns:
“AMP isn’t necessary for non-news sites. It can harm conversions by limiting design options.”
“Rip out AMP, it’s deprecated technology… make sure to create redirects.”
⚖️ The Verdict: AMP vs Core Web Vitals
AMP is not a Google ranking factor—but it affects Core Web Vitals, which are ranking signals .
- If your site already hits performance benchmarks (fast LCP, low CLS, minimal FID), AMP adds little benefit.
- If performance is poor and optimization isn’t feasible, AMP can be a temporary quick-fix—but long-term, investing in modern tools is smarter .
- For news publishers dependent on mobile traffic or Google Discover, AMP may still yield measurable gains .
📊 Publisher Data Snapshot (Quintype, May 2025)
| AMP Role | Key Insight |
|---|---|
| Usage by traffic | Some sites see up to 75% mobile traffic via AMP |
| Core Web Vitals | AMP presence alone doesn’t guarantee performance |
| Revenue & Ad Fit | AMP sometimes earns more from ads, but limits monetization tools |
📝 Decision Framework
- Evaluate performance:
- Does your mobile site pass Core Web Vitals?
- Can you hit sub-2s load times using modern optimization?
- Is AMP necessary?:
- For most non-news sites: no.
- For select publishers relying on Discover/News or needing rapid performance improvements: maybe.
- If using AMP:
- Ensure content parity and proper redirects.
- Monitor analytics for traffic and revenue trends.
- If phasing out AMP:
- Deploy 301 redirects from AMP URLs.
- Confirm content consistency and update sitemaps.
- Reflect results in Search Console.
- Reddit users report little-to-no traffic dip post-AMP removal .
🚀 Final Takeaway
AMP once served a vital role in mobile SEO—but today, it’s largely optional. With Core Web Vitals front and center, fast-loading content is achievable without AMP’s constraints. AMP may still make sense for specific publishers, but for most sites, modern performance practices win.
If you use AMP, monitor its ROI carefully and prepare for gradual retirement. If you don’t, prioritize responsive design, Core Web Vitals, and modern frameworks instead.
