Remember when Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) was the hot new technology everyone was rushing to implement? It promised lightning-fast mobile experiences, prime placement in search results, and that distinctive bolt icon that signaled to users your site was optimized for speed.
But as we move through 2025, many are questioning whether AMP still deserves a place in their web strategy. If you’re wondering whether to maintain, implement, or remove AMP from your website, this post will bring you up to speed on the current state of this once-revolutionary technology.
Before the update of the website, I have been actively using AMP pages. With the redesign , I skipped and decided not to renew support for it.
The Rise and Plateau of AMP
AMP was launched in 2016 as an open-source framework backed by Google and other tech giants like WordPress, LinkedIn, and Twitter. It was designed to create fast-loading, lightweight mobile pages at a time when slow mobile experiences were frustrating users worldwide.
For several years, AMP adoption soared, reaching over 31 million domains and accumulating approximately 5 billion pages at its peak between 2017 and 2018. Publishers, especially news sites, embraced AMP enthusiastically due to the competitive advantage it offered in Google’s search results.
However, the landscape has changed dramatically since then.
What Happened to AMP?
Several key developments have diminished AMP’s importance:
- Google’s Policy Changes: In May 2020, Google removed the AMP requirement for appearing in the coveted Top Stories carousel and stopped displaying the lightning bolt icon in search results. This effectively eliminated one of the primary incentives for implementing AMP.
- Platform Exodus: Major publishers and social media platforms, including Twitter (now X), began migrating away from AMP in 2021.
- Core Web Vitals: Google shifted its focus to Core Web Vitals as the primary measure of page experience, replacing AMP as the preferred method for assessing mobile optimization.
- Improved Technologies: Advancements in mobile technologies, faster network speeds, and modern web development practices now provide alternative ways to create fast-loading pages without AMP’s restrictions.
Is Google Still Supporting AMP in 2025?
Yes, Google still technically supports AMP in 2025. The framework hasn’t been abandoned entirely, and existing AMP pages continue to function. However, Google has retired the ranking systems that previously favored AMP content, signaling its diminishing significance in the search ecosystem.
According to recent data from Newzdash, non-AMP results now account for a significant portion of Top Stories content, showing that Google has indeed made good on its promise to level the playing field between AMP and non-AMP pages.
The Limitations That Led to AMP’s Decline
Understanding why AMP has fallen out of favor requires acknowledging its inherent limitations:
Restricted Functionality
AMP is a restrictive framework that only allows inline CSS up to 75kB and third-party JS up to 150kB, making functionality and engagement with webpages limited. This created stripped-down experiences that often felt disconnected from brands‘ main websites.
Brand Identity Issues
When users landed on an AMP page from Google search, they didn’t see the original website URL but rather Google’s cached version. This confused visitors and created analytics challenges for publishers trying to track traffic sources. Some technical solutions like Cloudflare’s AMP Real URL attempted to address this issue.
Development Burden
Maintaining two versions of content (AMP and non-AMP) proved burdensome for developers. Even simple features like submission forms required significant work to make AMP-compatible.
Should You Use AMP in 2025?
The answer depends on your specific situation:
For New Websites
If you’re building a new website in 2025, the consensus among web developers is clear: don’t implement AMP. Focus instead on:
- Creating responsive designs with mobile-first strategies
- Optimizing your site according to Core Web Vitals
- Implementing modern performance techniques that don’t restrict functionality
- Keeping image sizes optimized and limiting unnecessary JavaScript
For Existing Websites with AMP
If you already have AMP implemented, you have several options:
- Keep AMP if it’s working well: Some news publishers may still benefit from AMP for Top Stories placement, though the advantage has significantly decreased.
- Plan a gradual transition away from AMP: Many sites are phasing out AMP as they optimize their main mobile experiences.
- Remove AMP immediately: If maintaining dual versions of content is creating more headaches than benefits, you might consider removing AMP altogether.
How to Remove AMP From Your Website
If you decide to remove AMP pages, follow these steps:
- Find all your AMP links: Use Google Search Console’s AMP Status report or conduct a site crawl with tools like Screaming Frog to identify all URLs with „/amp/“ in them.
- Remove AMP pages from Google Search: Update your settings to stop indexing AMP pages.
- Disable AMP pages on your website: If you’re using a plugin, simply toggle off AMP support in the settings.
- Redirect AMP pages to avoid 404 errors: Set up proper redirects from AMP URLs to their non-AMP counterparts.
- Verify removal: Manually check that AMP links redirect properly and monitor Google Search Console to ensure they’re being removed from the index.
- Optimize non-AMP pages: Focus on improving the performance of your standard mobile pages to maintain or improve search visibility.
- Monitor traffic: Keep an eye on traffic patterns after removal to address any unexpected changes.
The Future Beyond AMP
As we look ahead, the industry is moving toward solutions that combine speed with full functionality and brand consistency. Rather than relying on a separate framework like AMP, the focus is now on:
- Implementing responsive designs that work well on all devices
- Optimizing Core Web Vitals scores (Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift)
- Utilizing modern technologies like lazy loading and next-generation image formats
- Creating streamlined, purpose-built experiences without sacrificing functionality
Thoughts
AMP in 2025 is a technology in decline, gradually being replaced by more flexible, holistic approaches to mobile optimization. While it served an important purpose in pushing the industry toward better mobile experiences, its restrictive nature and Google’s policy changes have reduced its relevance.
For more information on current best practices for mobile optimization, check out Google’s Page Experience documentation and web.dev’s performance guides.
For most websites today, implementing AMP is unnecessary and potentially counterproductive. Resources are better spent on creating responsive, mobile-optimized websites that perform well according to Core Web Vitals metrics while maintaining full functionality and brand consistency.
If you’re still using AMP, now may be the time to reconsider your strategy and plan for a post-AMP future where speed and user experience are achieved without compromise.
