Google to speed-up news article downloads on mobile devices

Google wants to accelerate the mobile web experience of users with its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative that loads articles on mobile devices as fast as they open on desktops and tablets.

In reality, web content on mobile devices takes several seconds longer to load and this discouragers some users from proceeding. Thus, there’s a need “to improve the entire mobile content ecosystem for everyone -- publishers, consumer platforms, creators, and users”. AMP is said to considerably improve the download speeds of mobile web pages and help them load instantly.

Platforms like Twitter and Google and publishers like Vox, The New York Times and The Guardian have already started experimenting with the new technology. AMP’s ambitious aim is to incorporate all published content, including news stories, videos, blog posts, photographs and GIFs, into the AMP domain.

AMP is an open source initiative that can be used by publishers, platforms and technology companies. The format will motivate users to download more content in less time, thus increasing a story’s bounce rate by at least 58 percent. A set new set of HTML code framework will make the pages lighter and faster.

AMP will also promote superior distribution of content for publishers that can take advantage of AMP so their content appears swiftly. According to a report in the BBC News, LinkedIn and Pinterest also want to use the technology.

The project released the first round of technical specifications yesterday. In the coming weeks, more features such as support for subscription and vendor support for advertisements will be added.

Publishers and content management system (CMS) providers can work together to generate AMP content. Wordpress.com has already confirmed the integration of AMP technology. Google aims to implement the technology on a wider scale next year, reports the Irish Times.

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