By the Mayab Media Team
If you're still running AMP because someone told you Google needs it, here's the hard truth: Google stopped giving AMP pages special treatment a while ago, and now it's stopped hosting them for you too.
That's not bad news. For a lot of sites, it's permission to simplify.
What changed
On July 1, 2026, Google updated how Search connects people to AMP pages. Searchers now go directly to the publisher's own AMP host pages, instead of a cached copy shown in Google's AMP viewer.
Google's changelog says this simplifies and cuts maintenance for publishers. You no longer need to update the AMP cache or set up signed exchanges. Google also said AMP content will keep ranking like any other web page.
A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Roundtable the same thing, and the outlet reported no impact on how AMP pages are ranked or served in Search and Discover. Google also cleaned up its AMP documentation. It now opens by saying Google indexes AMP pages like other pages and applies the same standard regardless of the technology used.
That last line is the important one. Same standard. No bonus for AMP.
Why this matters to your bottom line
Two money angles here.
First, your AMP pages now load from your own server. Before, Google's cache did some of the heavy lifting on speed. Now the experience depends on your hosting, your CDN and how lean your AMP pages are. If your AMP setup was neglected, searchers may now see slower pages than before. Slower pages lose visitors before they ever see your offer.
Second, you might be paying to maintain two versions of every page. AMP plus regular pages means two templates, two sets of tracking, two places for bugs, and analytics that split sessions in confusing ways. We've seen plenty of sites where AMP pages had broken forms, missing phone numbers or different calls to action than the main site. That's lost leads hiding in plain sight.
There's also a tracking cost. When AMP visitors and regular visitors flow through different templates, it's easy for GA4 tags, conversion pixels or call tracking numbers to be missing on one version. You then make budget decisions on numbers that undercount what organic search actually brings in. One clean version of each page fixes that problem for good.
If AMP no longer gets a cache, a special viewer or a ranking edge, the honest question is: what is it doing for you?
A simple keep-or-kill framework
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Check if you even have AMP. Look at your page source for an amphtml link, or check your CMS plugins. Many WordPress sites have an AMP plugin someone installed years ago and forgot.
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Compare AMP vs. regular pages on what matters. Pull conversions, not just traffic. Do AMP visitors call, fill out forms or buy at the same rate as visitors to your normal pages? If AMP pages convert worse, that's money walking out the door.
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Test your regular pages' speed. Run your key templates through PageSpeed Insights and check Core Web Vitals in Search Console. If your normal mobile pages are already fast, AMP adds cost without much benefit.
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Decide. If AMP pages convert worse and your normal pages are fast enough, plan to retire AMP. If you're a publisher with heavy mobile news traffic and your AMP setup is clean and fast, keeping it is a fair choice. Google says it still ranks like any page.
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If you remove it, do it properly. Follow Google's guide to removing AMP pages from Search. Typically that means removing the amphtml links and redirecting AMP URLs to their canonical versions, so you don't throw away links or leave broken URLs behind.
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If you keep it, own the speed. Make sure AMP pages are on a good CDN, cached properly, and match your main pages for tracking, phone numbers and calls to action.
Our take
We're mostly happy to see this. For most small and mid-size businesses we work with, AMP has been a maintenance tax with no clear payoff for a long time. Google's own wording now says it applies the same standard regardless of the tech you use. Believe it.
Our default advice for service businesses and ecommerce stores: invest in one fast, well-built version of each page and drop the second copy. Publishers with big AMP setups should make the call with their own data, not habit.
The takeaway: AMP gets no special treatment from Google now, so keep it only if your numbers prove it pays.
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