How Google’s AMP increases importance of mobile, search for advertisers

By Lorna White

MediaCom

London, United Kingdom

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Consumers’ use of mobile as a central device in all their online behaviours is increasing, with search as a core driver in creating this reliance on mobile devices.

Back in 2015, more searches occurred on mobile than desktop, a trend that continues to grow. Google is the main influencer in search and online industry, and any developments tend to affect the market as a whole.

Google AMP will have repercussions for advertisers and brands because fewer people may actually visit their sites.
Google AMP will have repercussions for advertisers and brands because fewer people may actually visit their sites.

With mobile and its unique device features — search has a huge influence on the changing space — user behaviour, and, therefore, how brands behave. The introduction and continued uptake of voice search, powered further through wearables, is one innovation that brands need to adjust their strategies for.

A key Google development, the introduction of accelerated mobile pages (AMP), is likely to increase mobile consumer use even further.

AMP is a technology where content is loaded within search results, bringing in only core information so that pages load faster on mobile devices. This is important as a slow-loading mobile page often results in consumers abandoning the page, and therefore resulting in a lost user.

With further developments and iterations Google has released to include non-news content, it becomes even more important for brands. AMP gives consumers easier access to content quickly, which is essential for mobile, with search driving the access to content regardless of the brand or publisher site set-up.

Similar to Facebook Instant Articles, the development of AMP means that content is essentially brought to the consumer wherever they are (i.e., via social or search), rather than having to visit a brand destination.

For publishers, this could affect their brand as a visitation point in the consumer journey, so brands need to consider this in their advertising strategy. It will be interesting to see if the publisher brands are devalued or remain trusted content sources.

Overall, mobile is disrupting and shaping different media channels, where advertisers need to be on top of trends while also remembering to be in the right place at the right time.

Access to content and delivery of content to consumers should be at the heart of brand strategy. Listening to consumer behaviour (i.e., bouncing for slow mobile page loads) has driven this Google development, and should be monitored and utilised by both publishers and brands to drive best practices in mobile as a channel.

About Lorna White

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