The Accelerated Mobile Pages (“AMP”) Project is an open source initiative that came out of discussions between publishers and technology companies about the need to improve the entire mobile content ecosystem for everyone — publishers, consumer platforms, creators, and users.
Today, the expectation is that content should load super fast and be easy to explore. The reality is that content can take several seconds to load, or, because the user abandons the slow page, never fully loads at all. Accelerated Mobile Pages are web pages designed to load instantaneously — they are a step towards a better mobile web for all.
Why
Speed matters and instant is the ideal. Research shows that the bounce rate can be as high as 58% for web pages that take nearly ten seconds to load. Using the AMP format will make it far more compelling for people to consume and engage with more content. But this isn’t just about speed and performance. We also want to promote enhanced distribution so that publishers can take advantage of the open web’s potential for their content to appear everywhere quickly — across all platforms and apps — which can lead to more revenue via ads and subscriptions.
Where
Accelerated Mobile Pages are just like any other HTML page, but with a limited set of allowed technical functionality that is defined and governed by the open source AMP spec. Just like all web pages, Accelerated Mobile Pages will load in any modern browser or app webview. AMP files take advantage of various technical and architectural approaches that prioritize speed to provide a faster experience for users. The goal is not to homogenize how content looks and feels, but instead to build a more common technical core between pages that speeds up load times.
Who
The project is open to all players in the ecosystem – publishers, consumer platforms, and creators. In this early stage of the project, a group of publishers and platforms have come together to demonstrate how Accelerated Mobile Pages can transform the mobile web experience. They include platforms like Twitter and Google, tech players like ChartBeat and WordPress.com and publishers like Vox, The New York Times, The Guardian and Globo.
When
On October 7th, 2015, the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project announced the release of the initial technical specification which will appear on GitHub, a broadly used repository for open-source content. We are also providing an early developer demo of what a faster mobile web can look and feel like with Accelerated Mobile Pages. More features and functionality will be added over the coming weeks, including functional support for subscription models as well as vendor support for advertising functionality. As more of this functionality becomes commonly available, we hope to see more and more major consumer platforms integrating AMP pages into their apps and services.
How
Since “AMP HTML” is built entirely out of existing web technologies, the development process mirrors the one publishers are already using today. Publishers can familiarize themselves with the AMP HTML specification on GitHub. For those used to the current process, we don’t expect a significant learning curve.
Instant Articles is a tool for news publishers to distribute fast, interactive articles to their readers in the Facebook app.
Why
There are several benefits for publishers. Faster article loading allows readers to get to content as quickly as possible. Facebook’s experience with other media formats, such as auto-play video, has been that more rapid content loading generates increased content consumption and sharing. We believe Instant Articles will help publishers grow their businesses on Facebook.
Who
Facebook is currently testing Instant Articles with a small set of publishers. The Instant Articles program will expand to more publishers in the future.
Where
For the moment, Instant Articles are only available to people who use Facebook’s iPhone app.
When
May 12, 2015 Facebook announced the Instant Articles Initiative.
September 22, 2015 Facebook released documentation for publishers and tool providers.
October 20, 2015 Facebook launched Instant Articles for everyone on iPhone.
How
It’s a straightforward process for publishers to publish their articles in the Instant Article format because it uses HTML and RSS, standard ways for authoring articles on the web. Facebook translates articles authored for the web in HTML into the Instant Articles format. We also provide tools for publishers to preview articles prior to publication and make sure they display as they intended. Publishers who wish to embrace new elements like interactive maps and auto-play videos can use simple, well-documented HTML tags to enhance their content with rich-media features.
The Accelerated Mobile Pages (“AMP”) Project is an open source initiative that came out of discussions between publishers and technology companies about the need to improve the entire mobile content ecosystem for everyone — publishers, consumer platforms, creators, and users.
Today, the expectation is that content should load super fast and be easy to explore. The reality is that content can take several seconds to load, or, because the user abandons the slow page, never fully loads at all. Accelerated Mobile Pages are web pages designed to load instantaneously — they are a step towards a better mobile web for all.
What are the benefits of Accelerated Mobile Pages?
Speed matters and instant is the ideal. Research shows that the bounce rate can be as high as 58% for web pages that take nearly ten seconds to load. Using the AMP format will make it far more compelling for people to consume and engage with more content. But this isn’t just about speed and performance. We also want to promote enhanced distribution so that publishers can take advantage of the open web’s potential for their content to appear everywhere quickly — across all platforms and apps — which can lead to more revenue via ads and subscriptions.
How do Accelerated Mobile Pages work?
Accelerated Mobile Pages are just like any other HTML page, but with a limited set of allowed technical functionality that is defined and governed by the open source AMP spec. Just like all web pages, Accelerated Mobile Pages will load in any modern browser or app webview. AMP files take advantage of various technical and architectural approaches that prioritize speed to provide a faster experience for users. The goal is not to homogenize how content looks and feels, but instead to build a more common technical core between pages that speeds up load times.
In addition, AMP files can be cached in the cloud in order to reduce the time content takes to get a user’s mobile device. Under this type of framework, publishers continue to control their content, but platforms can easily cache or mirror the content for optimal delivery speed users. Google has stated that it will provide a cache that can be used by anyone at no cost, though the cache (Google’s or otherwise) is not required. Other companies may build their own cache as well.
In summary, the goal is that that the combination of limited technical functionality with a distribution system built around caching will lead to better performing pages, and increased audience development for publishers.
Why does the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project take an open source approach?
The initial companies involved in this early preview of the project want to make the mobile web work better for all — not just for one platform, one set of technologies, or one set of publishers. Making the project open source enables people to share and contribute their ideas and code for making the mobile web fast. This preview is just the beginning of that journey and we look forward to other publishers and technology companies joining along the way.
When will Accelerated Mobile Pages launch and what is the rollout plan?
On October 7th, 2015, the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project announced the release of the initial technical specification which will appear on GitHub, a broadly used repository for open-source content. We are also providing an early developer demo of what a faster mobile web can look and feel like with Accelerated Mobile Pages. More features and functionality will be added over the coming weeks, including functional support for subscription models as well as vendor support for advertising functionality. As more of this functionality becomes commonly available, we hope to see more and more major consumer platforms integrating AMP pages into their apps and services.
Who will be able to use Accelerated Mobile Pages?
The project is open to all players in the ecosystem – publishers, consumer platforms, and creators. In this early stage of the project, a group of publishers and platforms have come together to demonstrate how Accelerated Mobile Pages can transform the mobile web experience. They include platforms like Twitter and Google, tech players like ChartBeat and WordPress.com and publishers like Vox, The New York Times, The Guardian and Globo.
What type of content will work best using Accelerated Mobile Pages?
The goal is for all published content, from news stories to videos and from blogs to photographs and GIFs, to work using Accelerated Mobile Pages.
As a publisher, will making my content work for Accelerated Mobile Pages entail more work?
In short, not much. Since “AMP HTML” is built entirely out of existing web technologies, the development process mirrors the one publishers are already using today. Publishers can familiarize themselves with the AMP HTML specification on GitHub. For those used to the current process, we don’t expect a significant learning curve.
How can a publisher get content into AMP HTML?
Publishers and Content Management System (CMS) providers can develop an integration with their CMS to generate AMP content. We hope that all content management systems will add support for AMP HTML pages. For example, WordPress.com has announced that it will integrate the AMP framework. In addition to WordPress.com, we hope other commercial CMS providers will support the project in the weeks and months to come.
Platform and Technology Company Involvement
How can a consumer platform get involved in Accelerated Mobile Pages?
The project is open to all players, and existing members of the project are very enthusiastic to engage with consumer platforms on the initiative. Google will also open its cache for use for free by anyone, including to consumer platforms that would like to display AMP content in their environment.
How can an advertising or technology vendor get involved in Accelerated Mobile Pages?
Though we cannot guarantee that all vendor technology will function perfectly inside AMP files, over time we expect to release new functionality in the specification that will make it easier for your technology to integrate with the format.
Publisher Monetization
How will advertising work on Accelerated Mobile Pages?
A goal of the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project is to ensure effective ad monetization on the mobile web while embracing a user-centric approach. With that context, the objective is to provide support for a comprehensive range of ad formats, ad networks and technologies in Accelerated Mobile Pages. As part of that, those involved with the project are also engaged in crafting Sustainable Ad Practices to insure that ads in AMP files are fast, safe, compelling and effective for users.
Will publishers be able to sell their own ad inventory?
Yes, as with their existing websites, publishers control their ad inventory and how they sell it.
How will subscriptions and paywalls work with Accelerated Mobile Pages?
It is a core objective of the Accelerated Mobile Pages project to support subscriptions and paywalls. Publishers and technologists will work together to build the best solutions for readers and publishers.
How are analytics being handled in this AMP format?
Ensuring publishers are able to get robust analytics insight is a core design goal for the project. While the analytics support in the demo release is very limited, the spec is expected to have support for collection of analytics information, and integrating with 3rd party systems without compromising the AMP file speed or size. Chartbeat and Parse.ly, two publisher analytics providers, are participants in the project.
Do publishers receive credit for the traffic from a measurement perspective?
Yes, an AMP file is the same as the rest of your site – this space is the publisher’s canvas.
Instant Articles is a tool for news publishers to distribute fast, interactive articles to their readers in the Facebook app.
How do Instant Articles work?
Rather than loading an article using a web browser, which takes over 8 seconds on average, Instant Articles load using the same fast tools we use to load photos and videos in the Facebook app allowing articles to load as much as 10 times faster than standard mobile web articles. Beyond just speed, Instant Articles allow publishers to provide the same high quality, fluid experience and interactivity that people expect from a mobile app. Instant Articles has been designed with extensive feedback from news publishers. Publishers can serve their own ads and keep that revenue, track readership in real-time and with comScore, and customize the presentation of articles to match their brand.
Will Instant Articles be required for publishers on Facebook moving forward?
No. Publishers have the option to participate in the Instant Articles program. Participating publishers retain full control of their content and publishing schedule, including how much to publish to Facebook. Standard article links will remain accessible from Facebook via the standard mobile browser for publishers that decline to participate. Our expectation is that people on Facebook will appreciate the enhanced accessibility of Instant Articles content, while publishers will see greater engagement for their content as a result.
Why would publishers want to participate in Instant Articles?
There are several benefits for publishers. Faster article loading allows readers to get to content as quickly as possible. Facebook’s experience with other media formats, such as auto-play video, has been that more rapid content loading generates increased content consumption and sharing. We believe Instant Articles will help publishers grow their businesses on Facebook.
Do publishers need to create original content for Facebook?
No. Instant Articles is simply a faster, mobile-optimized way to publish and distribute stories on Facebook, and it supports automated content syndication using standards like HTML and RSS. Content published as Instant Articles will also be published on the publishers’ websites.
How much effort is required for publishers to reconfigure their content for Instant Articles?
It’s a straightforward process for publishers to publish their articles in the Instant Article format because it uses HTML and RSS, standard ways for authoring articles on the web. Facebook translates articles authored for the web in HTML into the Instant Articles format. We also provide tools for publishers to preview articles prior to publication and make sure they display as they intended. Publishers who wish to embrace new elements like interactive maps and auto-play videos can use simple, well-documented HTML tags to enhance their content with rich-media features.
What types of articles work best for this format?
Instant Articles work for any type of article, from daily spot-news coverage to in-depth, longform features.
Do Instant Articles change how publishers or people share on Facebook?
No. Nothing about link-sharing changes. Publishers and readers link to articles just as they always have; there is no need to link or post an Instant Article differently. Each Instant Article is associated with a link, so when a friend or page shares a link in News Feed, readers see the Instant Article version if it is available.
Are Instant Articles available to everyone on Facebook?
For the moment, Instant Articles are only available to people who use Facebook’s iPhone app.
What happens if a reader is not on a device that supports Instant Articles?
People on a desktop computer or other device that doesn’t support Instant Articles will continue to link to the mobile web version of the article.
How will Instant Articles influence referral traffic?
Instant Articles display within the Facebook app, so readers no longer redirect to the publisher’s website. Facebook worked with publishers and comScore to enable Instant Articles views in Facebook’s app to count as traffic to the original publisher, just as they do on the mobile web.
Can publishers sell their own advertising on Instant Articles?
Yes. Publishers can sell in their articles and keep the revenue, or they can choose to use Facebook’s Audience Network to monetize unsold inventory.
How do publishers enroll to use Instant Articles?
Facebook is currently testing Instant Articles with a small set of publishers. The Instant Articles program will expand to more publishers in the future. If would like to participate, please tell us about yourself and we’ll keep you updated.
Facebook has a problem, or thinks it does: reading news stories from Facebook’s mobile app doesn’t work very well. The company says the average news article takes eight seconds to launch — time in which a bored mobile user might give up and open another application altogether.
Facebook wants to change that. So today the company announced a new partnership with some of the nation’s most prestigious publications, including the New York Times, National Geographic, and the Atlantic, where Facebook will actively host entire articles on behalf of news organizations.
Facebook’s hope is that this will drastically improve article loading times, particularly on mobile devices. The company is also offering ways for publishers to improve the display of images and video.
But even as major news organizations participate in the partnership, journalists are worried that the deal will give Facebook too much power over the news business. Fusion’s Felix Salmon, for example, wrote in March that if news organizations signed up with Facebook, they risked “losing most of the things which make [a] news brand memorable and unique.”
How will Facebook’s deal with publishers affect ordinary users?
The main thing users will notice — if they notice anything at all — is that articles from certain media organizations start loading more quickly than they did before.
In the past, when a Facebook user on a smartphone clicked on a link to a news story, it would open a separate browser window and begin downloading an entire webpage. In the new model, publishers upload copies of their articles to Facebook so they can be hosted on Facebook’s servers. This allows Facebook to optimize how the articles are delivered to Facebook.
Facebook hasn’t provided a lot of details on the technology behind the product, but what looks to be happening is Facebook is pre-loading the article’s content so that it’s already on the device when a user clicks a link. Right now, Facebook Instant Articles are only available for iOS, but an Android version is expected soon.
But aside from this speed increase, users probably won’t notice much difference. Facebook is touting several other features, such as the ability to zoom in on images and autoplay videos, but it’s not clear how often publishers will take advantage of these features.
Why are publishers doing this?
(Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Publishers have grown dependent on traffic from Facebook, and Facebook has a lot of discretion to decide which content is featured in its users’ news feed. This fact gives Facebook a lot of leverage. Some publishers fear that if they don’t participate, Facebook will point its firehose of traffic in the direction of more pliant competitors.
At the same time, the program offers some benefits for publishers as well. Faster loading times are good for publishers as much as they are for Facebook. And joining Facebook Instant Articles gives publishers access to Facebook’s powerful advertising program. Facebook knows a lot about its users, and this data allows them to target ads at users who are most likely to be interested in them. That’s good for advertisers, who are able to get a bigger impact from fewer ads.
Facebook-hosted articles can have Facebook-hosted ads next to them, and Facebook will give publishers 70 percent of the revenue generated with these Facebook ads. If Facebook’s ad platform is good enough, publishers may find that 70 percent of the money from a Facebook ad is worth more than 100 percent of an ad they sell themselves.
Facebook made a few other concessions to coax publishers to get on board. First, publishers retain the right to place their own ads next to the content, and according to reports, they’ll keep 100 percent of the revenues from these ads — at least for now. Facebook will also allow publishers to independently measure traffic to Instant Articles using third-party tools such as Google Analytics and Omniture.
Finally, publishers retain substantial control over the branding of Instant Articles. A New York Times article will have a prominent New York Times logo at the top, making clear to readers that they’re reading a Times story, not a generic Facebook news story.
Why do critics say this is a threat to journalism?
Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. (Ian Kennedy)
A number of journalists worry that the deal will give Facebook too much power over the news business. Here’s how Felix Salmon put it in March:
It’s about losing control over exactly how your content is presented and delivered — about losing most of the things which make your news brand memorable and unique. At some point, it’s easy to foresee a world where talented individuals, rather than brands, make a good living by producing the kind of news content which “works really well” on Facebook. If Facebook becomes the new YouTube in that respect, and if Facebook continues to grow as a trusted news source in its own right, then the result could be an existential crisis for news organizations with old-fashioned things like editors and fact-checkers and clear ethical guidelines.
Skeptics believe that news organizations need the kind of control they get from running their own website. In their view, running their own websites fosters a stronger bond between readers and publishers and gives publishers more opportunity to innovate.
They also worry that the relatively favorable terms of Facebook’s current deal with publishers won’t last. They worry that Facebook could start taking a greater cut of ad revenue, limit news organizations’ control over how their content is presented, and limit their access to data about their users’ online activities.
As David Carr put it last year: “Many publishers are worried that what has been a listening tour could become a telling tour, in which Facebook dictates terms because it drives so much traffic.”
Worst of all, they worry that Facebook will use the leverage provided by its huge audience to coerce the rest of the news industry into joining Facebook’s platform. Now that nine prestigious publishers have agreed to join the platform, Facebook could direct more traffic to them and less traffic to the rest of the news industry. That would create tremendous pressure on those other publishers to join up.
Are the critics right?
Users come to Facebook for this kind of thing more than for news. (sabianmaggy)
It’s too early to say, but I’m skeptical.
If you’re worried about Facebook having too much power over the news business, then your beef is with user behavior in general, not Instant Articles in particular. The reason Facebook generates so much traffic for news organizations is because users spend a huge amount of time on the site.
And reading news is a small fraction of people’s Facebook time. People mostly use Facebook to look at pictures of their grandchildren, share photos of their friends’ weddings, and swap gossip about life in their hometowns. Facebook would continue to be a very popular website even if it had zero news content.
So it’s not obvious how much publisher participation in Instant Articles increases Facebook’s power. Facebook had a lot of power over the news industry last week, and it would have continued having that power even if no publishers had signed up for Facebook-hosted news.
And crucially, these content deals are non-exclusive. Facebook users on iPhones will see a special, Facebook-optimized version of New York Times articles. For everyone else, the Times website will work exactly the same way it did before. And that’s unlikely to change, because while Facebook generates a lot of traffic, most of the news industry’s traffic still comes from elsewhere on the web.
This means that news organizations retain a fair amount of leverage. If Facebook tried to drastically alter the terms of the deal, the news organizations can quit the program and take their content with them. They’d face some costs for this — slower load times and the loss of access to Facebook’s lucrative ad platform — but that’s just another way of saying they’d be back where they were before they signed up for the program.
What does Instant Articles say about the evolution of the web?
The web is maturing. The early days of any new communications media tends to be a free-for-all, with a lot of small publishers or broadcasters experimenting with the new technologies and building up modest audiences.
But then there’s usually a period of consolidation, when a few channels gain a disproportionate share of the traffic. In the 20th century, the television business became dominated by ABC, CBS, and NBC. Most cities became dominated by one or two newspapers. A few magazines like Time and Newsweek dominated the weekly news business.
THESE NEW PLATFORMS STILL GIVE USERS A LOT MORE CONTROL THAN THE OLD ONES
Something similar seems to be happening on the web. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are emerging as the ABC, CBS, and NBC of the 21st century — sites that attract vastly more traffic than most others.
But the web has two big things going for it. First, these new platforms still give users a lot more control than the old ones did. In 1970, everyone had to choose from the same 3 TV shows. Today, Facebook does a pretty good job of letting you pick what content you’re interested in, and Twitter gives power users even more control over the content they choose.
Second, while a few sites are a lot more popular than the rest, there are still a lot of options out there. You can find news using Reddit or Digg or Pinterest or dozens of other sites. And while Facebook has a huge head start, barriers to entry are still pretty low. If Facebook stops serving its users well, someone else might take its place.
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3693936/94123774.0.jpg)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3693946/16942766725_b6bf706e99_k.0.jpg)
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3693956/2396559684_e397ec217f_o.0.jpg)