Are Google Web Stories the new AMP?
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:02 am
Victor Rolim
Feb 24, 22 | 4 min read
Are Google Web Stories the new AMP?
Reading time: 3 minutes
Google Web Stories is a tool that offers brands a way to engage their audiences in an immersive, personalized and interactive way with the proven success of the stories format.
When Web Stories was introduced in 2018, people also referred to it as AMP Stories, as it uses AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages, a platform for optimizing mobile web browsing) as its technological foundation.
But we also saw AMP fade away due to some Google decisions. It was no longer necessary to have AMP to get better website performance and better rankings in search results.
As such, many website creators and publishers thought this decision was a way for Google to further monopolize the Internet.
Now, Google is trying to get more people to use Web tunisia email list Stories, and that's drawing some comparisons to AMP, which received a similar push in its early years.
Since Web Stories are a trending content format (similar to Instagram and TikTok stories), Google can benefit from more people using it as it can attract younger audiences.
The question is, “Is Google Web Stories replacing AMP?” Maybe. However, there is a difference between Web Stories and AMP.
While the former is actually an HTML page (the standard language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser), AMP pages connect to an equivalent web page.
So, despite being built using the AMP framework, Web Stories are different. But how?
Let's compare
The goal of AMP Stories, introduced in 2018, is described as “ visual storytelling for the open web ,” an immersive and performative experience for readers.
Plus, it's free and available to everyone, can be implemented on both AMP and non-AMP pages (it seems to focus on mobile platforms), and supports multiple media formats like videos, gifs, audios, and animations.
When reviewing the “ Create your first Web Story ” guide , the first thing you can see is that you will need a developer or the necessary knowledge to implement it. The advertising options seem very customizable and easy to implement on a third-party platform with an ad server like Google Ad Manager .
Now, looking at Google Web Stories, the goal of this new solution seems to be more or less the same, but it emphasizes story ownership. It allows for complete control of the story format with the ability to customize it for mobile and web platforms.
The solution also makes it possible for pages to be found on some Google platforms, such as the Search and Discover stories carousel (currently available in the US, India and Brazil).
They basically have the same implementation of AMP for advertising and also put a lot of emphasis on better monetization.
Last but not least, it has a visual editor builder as I mentioned before. It means you don't need to code anything to create your story (10 more points for Gryffindor!).
Google advocate John Mueller responded to one of these questions on Twitter . An SEO professional asked if Web Stories was the new AMP.
Mueller answered: “ They are more or less built on the AMP framework, but they don’t use the “paired” configuration. If you use a tool to generate them, they are just HTML pages that you can link to from your site naturally .”
So what does this mean? It means that your story is pure HTML , there are no dependencies.
Are Web Stories the new AMP after all?
Well, yes. AMP Stories is not a bad alternative. Quite the opposite. It offers you a lot of tools to create your stories, monetize them, and integrate them with your website and other tools. But Google Web Stories offers you all these things and some others that can improve your visibility and without code as I mentioned above.
Also, it will probably be easier to implement the other Google tools (Analytics, for example) since it is the same provider.
If you're using AMP Stories and you're hesitant to replace them with Google Web Stories, I'd recommend weighing the pros and cons of switching (it might not be worth the effort yet). But if you're just starting out and looking for the best tool, I think it's pretty clear, right?
Feb 24, 22 | 4 min read
Are Google Web Stories the new AMP?
Reading time: 3 minutes
Google Web Stories is a tool that offers brands a way to engage their audiences in an immersive, personalized and interactive way with the proven success of the stories format.
When Web Stories was introduced in 2018, people also referred to it as AMP Stories, as it uses AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages, a platform for optimizing mobile web browsing) as its technological foundation.
But we also saw AMP fade away due to some Google decisions. It was no longer necessary to have AMP to get better website performance and better rankings in search results.
As such, many website creators and publishers thought this decision was a way for Google to further monopolize the Internet.
Now, Google is trying to get more people to use Web tunisia email list Stories, and that's drawing some comparisons to AMP, which received a similar push in its early years.
Since Web Stories are a trending content format (similar to Instagram and TikTok stories), Google can benefit from more people using it as it can attract younger audiences.
The question is, “Is Google Web Stories replacing AMP?” Maybe. However, there is a difference between Web Stories and AMP.
While the former is actually an HTML page (the standard language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser), AMP pages connect to an equivalent web page.
So, despite being built using the AMP framework, Web Stories are different. But how?
Let's compare
The goal of AMP Stories, introduced in 2018, is described as “ visual storytelling for the open web ,” an immersive and performative experience for readers.
Plus, it's free and available to everyone, can be implemented on both AMP and non-AMP pages (it seems to focus on mobile platforms), and supports multiple media formats like videos, gifs, audios, and animations.
When reviewing the “ Create your first Web Story ” guide , the first thing you can see is that you will need a developer or the necessary knowledge to implement it. The advertising options seem very customizable and easy to implement on a third-party platform with an ad server like Google Ad Manager .
Now, looking at Google Web Stories, the goal of this new solution seems to be more or less the same, but it emphasizes story ownership. It allows for complete control of the story format with the ability to customize it for mobile and web platforms.
The solution also makes it possible for pages to be found on some Google platforms, such as the Search and Discover stories carousel (currently available in the US, India and Brazil).
They basically have the same implementation of AMP for advertising and also put a lot of emphasis on better monetization.
Last but not least, it has a visual editor builder as I mentioned before. It means you don't need to code anything to create your story (10 more points for Gryffindor!).
Google advocate John Mueller responded to one of these questions on Twitter . An SEO professional asked if Web Stories was the new AMP.
Mueller answered: “ They are more or less built on the AMP framework, but they don’t use the “paired” configuration. If you use a tool to generate them, they are just HTML pages that you can link to from your site naturally .”
So what does this mean? It means that your story is pure HTML , there are no dependencies.
Are Web Stories the new AMP after all?
Well, yes. AMP Stories is not a bad alternative. Quite the opposite. It offers you a lot of tools to create your stories, monetize them, and integrate them with your website and other tools. But Google Web Stories offers you all these things and some others that can improve your visibility and without code as I mentioned above.
Also, it will probably be easier to implement the other Google tools (Analytics, for example) since it is the same provider.
If you're using AMP Stories and you're hesitant to replace them with Google Web Stories, I'd recommend weighing the pros and cons of switching (it might not be worth the effort yet). But if you're just starting out and looking for the best tool, I think it's pretty clear, right?