Report: Google plans to give AMP pages higher priority in search results

Dive Brief:

Google is preparing to roll out a search update that gives Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) with breaking news and real-time alerts prominence in mobile search results, according to reporting by Digiday.
If the roll-out proceeds as reported, Google will begin serving mobile searches with a “live ticker” that appears above “top stories” on search results pages.
Digiday reports that Google has pitched multiple publishers on the update this summer, with the outlet revealing slides from the pitch deck. When Digiday reached out for comment, a Google representative referred to Google's existing public roadmap for AMP, which does not include the reported updates.

Dive Insight:

Google's AMP initiative is taking aim at sites that are lagging behind in the transition to the mobile web. While slow load times can kill the mobile user experience, Google says AMP pages load 85% faster than standard mobile pages.

Launched in February, Google’s AMP project is the tech giant's open-source answer to Facebook Instant Articles and Apple News. The open source project offers publishers and brands a way to reach a mobile audience through their own URLs, unlike Facebook or Apple, which require mobile pages to become part of a walled garden. The project has the advantage of giving publishers full control over how their content is presented, while also allowing publishers to fully own advertising on their AMP content.

Google recently announced it is making AMP pages part of organic search results. The company said AMP pages would not get preferential treatment in search results, but load time and page speed are both factors that influence mobile search rankings.

“It’s great,” said Chris Schieffer, senior product manager at The Slate Group, told Marketing Land. “In terms of size, we’re a second-tier publisher behind The [New York] Times, the [Wall Street] Journal and the [Washington] Post. We are fighting with those guys for a spot in the carousel. Opening up AMP where it’s not strictly in that carousel is going to be huge.”

The new mobile search feature is expected to roll out sometime this fall.