Internet giant Google announced the introduction of a new error report within the Google Search Console specifically designed for news publishers deploying AMP (accelerated mobile pages).
What exactly is AMP?
AMP enables mobile webpages to load quicker by eliminating certain downloadable elements that users normally require in order to access a webpage. Both Google and Twitter have already adopted the protocol but, from February 2016, the new technology will officially be rolled out meaning more sites able to implement it. Google have chosen news publishers simply because of how often they’re browsed; indeed, the majority of mobile internet users use their devices to search for current news and features to stay in-the-know while on-the-go. So, to ensure everything goes super smoothly, Google have also included an error report designed for AMP publishers in the Google Search Console. Representatives have said of it: “AMP error report gives an overview of the overall situation on your site, and then lets you drill down to specific error types and URLs… This process helps you quickly find the most common issues, so that you can systematically address them in your site’s AMP implementation (potentially just requiring tweaks in the templates or plugin used for these pages).” This effectively means that the Google Search Console will now report errors it finds on websites regarding the use of AMP which is good news for web masters as the previous solution involved running pages individually through a testing tool. The overall aim is for mobile webpages that are diverse in content (e.g. videos, animations and graphics) to work alongside smart ads and, importantly, to load instantaneously. Moreover, the technology is expected to work across a number of different devices so, in theory, users should be able to access instant content via all kinds of mobile devices and tablets.
