Brief:

• Google announced that its "stories" format for accelerated mobile pages (AMP) is now available for all websites that use Google Ad Manager, according to a blog post. AMP Story Ads are full-screen ads that appear on mobile devices in a stories format, which strings together several images and videos in a single post.
• Google Ads Manager, which the search giant created in June by combining and renaming DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange, also can deliver direct sold ads in AMP. The AMP format now has more than 100 ad vendor integrations, according to a separate post.
• AMP Story Ads have call-to-action buttons that mobile users can tap as part of engaging with an ad. Google labels the ads with a consistent marking to help viewers distinguish promotional messages from mobile website content, per MarketingLand.

Insight:

Google's AMP Story Ads, which the company started testing in July, give brands a similar ad format on mobile websites that adopt the platform to the stories ads offered by social media apps Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. That means brands can expand upon single display ads with more information to engage viewers and deploy call-to-action buttons, as Google demonstrates on the AMP by Example website.

Google has gradually added functionality to the AMP format to beef up the mobile web experience for users and make it more comparable to apps that respond quickly to user interactions like screen taps, swipes and other gestures. As mobile devices become the primary way for people to access the internet, it's important to Google's business strategy to ensure that the sites displaying its search results download as quickly as possible and offer engaging experiences that resonate with users.

The search giant has touted the positive effects of the AMP format in numerous case studies. TransUnion, the credit reporting company, saw a 3% increase in conversions, 26% lower bounce rate and prolonged time spent on its website compared to standard web pages, for example. Australian car insurance marketplace Greenslips.com.au boosted its conversion rate by 15% as its mobile site boosted download speeds by as much as 12%.

Google in September announced plans to loosen control over the AMP format with a new "consensus-seeking governance model" that relies on a committee to make decisions about the technology. The proposal was said to be in response to suspicion that the search giant wanted greater control over the mobile web by foisting the AMP format on content providers. The company has a near-monopoly on search in many countries, effectively making Google the primary gateway for how many people access news and information. The Washington Post, AliExpress, eBay, Cloudflare and WordPress developer Automattic are among the non-Google parties on AMP's new advisory committee. Earlier this year, Google launched a project to convince web standards groups to adopt technology derived from AMP. Google's proposal would let mobile users see faster non-AMP sites throughout the web, as outlined in a blog post.