Brief:

• Home improvement retailer Renovation Brands saw web sessions jump 27% and bounce rate drop 30% after launching Google AMP for its mobile and desktop web pages, according to a company statement. The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project is an open-source technology used to speed up downloads of mobile web content and ads.
• The AMP implementation also had a positive effect on Google Shopping campaigns. The campaigns that drove traffic to these newly implemented AMP pages versus non-AMP pages increased session duration by 124%, cut load times by half and boosted conversion rates by 79%.
• Renovation Brands in the past six months worked with a dedicated Google AMP team to implement optimized web pages. Aaron James, director of web development at Renovation, said the company cut costs by 60% in unifying all front-end development by deploying AMP across multiple platforms.

Insight:

Google started the AMP project to improve the user experience of the mobile web, a key source of ad revenue, as apps presented a growing threat to its business. One of the most interesting takeaways from Renovation Brands' use of AMP technology is that the retailer also incorporated it into the desktop version of its website, further cutting down on costs while boosting the user experience with shorter load times.

The AMP framework, a stripped-down form of HTML, has struggled to reach widespread adoption and supports less than 0.1% of websites, according to one survey. That said, sites that have adopted AMP have typically seen improvements in site performance and user conversion, per Search Engine Land.

In March, Google started a project to convince web standards groups to adopt technology derived from its AMP framework. While Google has sought to ease suspicions about its intentions, the search giant also has been accused of supporting standardization projects only to manipulate them in ways that are to its advantage. The move to encourage a web standard is part of developing the internet as an open arena for apps and information. The walled garden approach means that marketers and content providers are subject to the mercy of tech giants that control how audiences see advertisements and access information. A more mobile-friendly web is good for Google, especially as mobile users show limited patience with slow downloads.