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As a former SRE for Google who cared for AMPHTML FROM BIRTH, NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO USE AMP. In return for free hosting of the web content the publisher agre

As a former SRE for Google who cared for AMPHTML FROM BIRTH, NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO USE AMP. In return for free hosting of the web content the publisher agrees to use the AMP format/subset. The whole point of the project was to stop walled gardens, like BBC app, like CNN app,etc., which arose because of crappy slow web pages! That was killing the searchable mobile web! AMP is to enable mobile search! The motivation is in the first page of every dang design doc for AMP at Google! You might be really surprised to learn that your supposed plan for world domination is run on a shoestring and a low priority at Google!

justAnotherNET 8y ago
AMP is a disgusting attack on the open web, and you should be ashamed for being a part of it. You're supposed to be a search engine, not a content "curator". I really wish this kind of arrogance wasn't typical Google behavior, but here we are.
millstone 8y ago
Wow, a "shoestring low priority" project gets top search result placement, a custom icon callout, and cannot be disabled. What do the high-pri projects get?
- majewsky 8y ago
  High-prio projects get to be a requirement for commenting on Youtube.
- systemBuilder 8y ago
  Those moves were meant to stop mobile search from dying. You may not believe it, but you really haven't a clue of how bad things looked for Google when they conceived of AMP to stop the bleeding of open searchable content into walled gardens apps, and proprietary HTML replacements (yeah i'm talking YOU, Facebook.). If you want all news to come from unsearchable single website apps, go ahead, kill AMPHTML, the only open alternative.
  - dralley 8y ago
    What's your response to this? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19632481 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19632481? If that's the goal, then it does not seem universally effective.
ehnto 8y ago
When it affects your bottom line by changing ranking factors then it is no longer as optional as you make it out to be. Google decided to dominate the search world, and it now underpins a huge portion of online businesses. That comes with a level of responsibility to be fair to it's patrons that in this particular instance I feel isn't being met. Of course they can do whatever they want, it is their product, but we don't have to like it.
JohnFen 8y ago
> NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO USE AMP. That sure doesn't seem to be true at all.

justAnotherNET 8y ago

AMP is a disgusting attack on the open web, and you should be ashamed for being a part of it. You're supposed to be a search engine, not a content "curator". I really wish this kind of arrogance wasn't typical Google behavior, but here we are.

millstone 8y ago

Wow, a "shoestring low priority" project gets top search result placement, a custom icon callout, and cannot be disabled. What do the high-pri projects get?

majewsky 8y ago
High-prio projects get to be a requirement for commenting on Youtube.
systemBuilder 8y ago
Those moves were meant to stop mobile search from dying. You may not believe it, but you really haven't a clue of how bad things looked for Google when they conceived of AMP to stop the bleeding of open searchable content into walled gardens apps, and proprietary HTML replacements (yeah i'm talking YOU, Facebook.). If you want all news to come from unsearchable single website apps, go ahead, kill AMPHTML, the only open alternative.
- dralley 8y ago
  What's your response to this? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19632481 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19632481? If that's the goal, then it does not seem universally effective.

ehnto 8y ago

When it affects your bottom line by changing ranking factors then it is no longer as optional as you make it out to be. Google decided to dominate the search world, and it now underpins a huge portion of online businesses. That comes with a level of responsibility to be fair to it's patrons that in this particular instance I feel isn't being met. Of course they can do whatever they want, it is their product, but we don't have to like it.

JohnFen 8y ago

> NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO USE AMP. That sure doesn't seem to be true at all.