AMP, short for Accelerated Mobile Pages, is an initiative by Google that aims to speed up the loading time of websites on mobile devices. Technically, it's an open-source HTML framework that strips out most of the JavaScript, certain CSS styles, and other elements that may slow down the loading performance of a website.
Today, we'll examine the pros and cons of Google AMP and show you how to disable it.
The Benefits of Google AMP
How can you distinguish AMP pages from regular ones? To see it in action, do a quick Google search on your Android device or iPhone.
You can search for anything you like, but searching for something news-worthy might yield better results. For instance, here's what the search results look like for "Donald Trump":
3 ImagesNow, you should see certain links with a lightning bolt icon next to them. These links will direct you to an AMP version of the website. By tapping on such a link, you'll notice that the website opens almost instantly.
This is the big advantage of Google AMP: web pages load much faster. In fact, Google claims that AMP pages can load an average of 4x faster than equivalent non-AMP pages. This can be especially useful if your Wi-Fi connection is slow or unstable.
Also, Google claims that AMP pages use up to 10x less data than equivalent non-AMP pages. So, it can help you save data if you're on a capped data connection.
Because AMP improves load times dramatically, there's a high possibility that it could result in improved search engine ranking on Google. So, a lot of webmasters are turning towards integrating AMP into their websites.
The Problem With Google AMP
As you can see, there's a lot to like about AMP: faster loading times, less data consumption, and improved search rankings. But there's another side to this story.
AMP presents publishers with a few downsides, like limited options for ads and website analytics. It's up to publishers to decide whether AMP should be implemented—but if they want to take advantage of any of the good parts of AMP, they have to deal with those trade-offs.
For users, AMP can appear to be poorly implemented because it messes up the original URL. If you choose to share the web page, it shares the AMP-formatted link instead of the original one.
On iOS devices, AMP seems to break a lot of functionality. It breaks iOS's universal scroll-to-top gesture and also messes with the Find on Page feature in Safari.
Some might argue that most of these problems are fixable, and that's true—some of them are. But there's a fundamental problem with the concept of AMP itself. It disassociates content from its creator. In fact, there's an argument to be made that it could kill off the independence and credibility of content creators in the long run.
How to Disable AMP in Google Search
Most users with a spotty internet connection might appreciate AMP. But, there's absolutely no reason why users with high-speed internet should be forced to view the simplified version of a webpage. To make matters worse, Google provides no way to disable it in its search engine.
However, if you find AMP annoying, here are a few workarounds you can use to deactivate it.
1. Use a Different Search Engine
Google AMP, as the name implies, is a product of Google. So, you can remove Google AMP altogether by using a different search engine.
Some of the best alternatives to Google are Microsoft Bing and DuckDuckGo. These search engines don't force the AMP versions of the sites onto their users. You can also try Yahoo, which is one of the oldest search engines, and its search results don't include AMP webpages either.
Here is a comparison of search results on these search engines if you look up the term AMP.DEV:
3 ImagesAs you can see, Google's search result has a lightning bolt icon next to it which means it is an AMP link. In contrast, other search engines will direct you to non-AMP mobile sites.
2. Try a New Browser
At the time of writing, Google Chrome has no option to turn off AMP. So, if you want to block AMP, your best bet is to try a different browser. You have many options here but let's discuss the most effective ones.
Mozilla Firefox is one of the best browsers out there. It has many flavors like Stable, Beta, Nightly, and Focus. All of these versions of Firefox natively disable AMP without you having to do anything. DuckDuckGo browser also displays non-AMP mobile sites by default.
3 ImagesFor Android users, Kiwi Browser is another option worth trying. You'll find an option to Remove AMP in the Settings > Privacy menu.
3 Images3. Switch to Desktop View
This option is available in all the browsers out there. The name of the option might differ slightly, but the results will be the same.
AMP is a technology applicable to mobile sites only. So you can get rid of AMP by switching to desktop mode instead of mobile. You can do so in Chrome by tapping the three dots at the top right corner and checking the Desktop site.
3 Images4. Use the "i" to Switch to Non-AMP Mobile Site
All of the methods mentioned above are rather intrusive and require you to make significant changes. Nobody likes change. So there is a method you can use to disable Google AMP, which applies to Chrome and Google Search.
Whenever you open an AMP site, you'll see an i icon at the top left corner of your screen. If you tap it, it shows you a link. By tapping this link, you'll be redirected to the non-AMP mobile site.
3 ImagesPopular Methods That Don't Work Anymore
Here are a couple of commonly found solutions on the internet that have stopped working:
- Using encrypted.google.com doesn't work now.
- Using DeAMPify for Android is a bit of a hit and a miss. It rarely works.
Get Around Google AMP Easily
Back in 2016, Google said that it's working on letting users disable AMP in Google search, but there doesn't seem to be any official kill switch yet. Meanwhile, you can use any of the above workarounds to get around Google AMP pages.
