Google Search Stops Serving AMP Pages From Its Cache Globally

Image credit: Search Engine Journal

Google Search globally stopped serving Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) from its cache on July 1, instead directing users to the original domain’s AMP host page.

This change means that clicking an AMP result in Google Search will now display the publisher’s AMP URL directly, simplifying the content delivery mechanism and removing the need for Google’s cache.

Previously, AMP results were delivered from Google’s AMP Cache, which displayed a google.com URL in the browser. While signed exchanges allowed the original URL to be shown, the underlying content was still served from Google’s infrastructure.

Google updated its AMP documentation, removing all mentions of the AMP viewer, AMP Cache, and signed exchanges, according to the company’s public statements.

This update mirrors a similar change implemented earlier for Google News on mobile, where AMP content is also routed directly to the publisher’s site.

The way Google handles AMP pages evolved significantly since 2021, when AMP was no longer a requirement for inclusion in Google’s Top Stories carousel and the distinctive lightning-bolt icon was removed from search results.

Google stated that this modification affects only how AMP content is delivered to users, not its ranking within search results. AMP content will continue to be ranked using the same criteria as any other web page.

The move streamlines the AMP ecosystem by eliminating an intermediary step in content delivery, making the publisher’s domain more prominent to users clicking through from search.

Publishers using AMP will now see their own domain in the URL bar immediately upon a user clicking an AMP link from Google Search, a shift from the previous google.com URL that indicated cached content.

Source: Search Engine Journal