Do you still need AMP in 2026?

What AMP is

AMP is an open-source framework for building web pages. Its specification asks for a page that follows strict rules, so it stays light by design:

• No scripts of your own. The specification prohibits script tags except data formats such as application/ld+json, the AMP runtime itself and AMP's own components.
• A size cap on styles. All the page's own CSS together must stay under 75,000 bytes.
• Its own tags for media. An image is an amp-img element instead of an img, and the picture element is not allowed.
• Required markup. Every AMP page loads the runtime script from cdn.ampproject.org, includes a fixed block of boilerplate styles, and has a canonical link to its normal version, or to itself when there is no other version.

Most sites that used AMP kept two versions of each article: the normal page, and an AMP copy at an address such as example.com/amp/my-post. The normal page points to the copy with a link element of type amphtml, and the copy points back with a canonical link. See canonical tags for how canonical links work in general.

<!-- On the normal page -->
<link rel="amphtml" href="https://example.com/amp/my-post/">

<!-- On the AMP page -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/my-post/">

Why sites used it

AMP arrived when many mobile pages were heavy and slow. The rules took away the usual causes: large scripts, unlimited styles and images with no reserved space. For a while, Google Search also gave AMP pages a special place, so many news and blog sites built AMP copies to stay visible on phones.

The 2025 Web Almanac's SEO chapter names the turning point. It says the shift away from AMP came after Google removed its Top Stories requirement, together with the rise of the Core Web Vitals as a performance measure for every page. In other words, the reason most sites built AMP has gone.

What changed in Google Search

The last two rows are the newest change. Before July 2026, a tap on an AMP result usually opened a copy that Google served from its own servers. Now the visitor goes to your server, like any other result. Google's update note adds that AMP content will continue to rank just like any other web page.

My reading of this change is that an AMP page now has no delivery advantage of its own. It is fast only if your server answers quickly and the page is light, which is true of every page. Its speed is measured by the same Core Web Vitals as the rest of your site.

How many sites still use it

Very few. The 2025 Web Almanac measured AMP markup on millions of pages:

The chapter calls AMP a fringe technology and says usage has stayed well below 1%, with no growth since 2024. What remains is mostly older setups that nobody has removed.

Should you keep, build or remove AMP?

Two versions of every page cost work. Every change to a template, a tracking tag or a consent banner has to be made twice. The two can drift apart, and Google's guidelines ask that visitors get the same content and can complete the same actions on both. Removing AMP ends that double work.

How to remove AMP safely

Google's guide to removing AMP pages gives the steps for a site that keeps its normal pages:

1. Remove the amphtml link from each normal page.
2. Make each AMP address answer with a 301 redirect to its normal page.
3. Watch the AMP status report in Search Console. The number of indexed AMP pages should fall.

On WordPress or another content system, switching AMP off in its plugin or settings removes the AMP versions in one step. You still need the redirects, because old AMP links remain in bookmarks, social posts and other sites. Here is an example rule for an nginx server, for AMP copies that end in /amp/:

# Send old AMP addresses to the normal page, keeping links and bookmarks working
location ~ ^(?<page>/.+)/amp/?$ {
    return 301 $page/;
}

Test a few AMP addresses after the change. Each should answer 301 and land on the right page. See redirects and status codes for how to check them, and the website migration checklist if you are changing many addresses at once.

If you keep AMP for now

• Keep the pages valid. Google says an AMP page must follow the specification and be valid to work as expected. Search Console's AMP status report lists the errors.
• Keep both versions matching. The same content, the same structured data and the same actions on both pages.
• Measure the AMP page itself. Visitors now load it from your server, so test it like any other page.
• Watch the runtime script. Every AMP page loads its runtime from cdn.ampproject.org. The required boilerplate hides the page until the runtime starts, with an 8-second animation as the fallback. My reading of the boilerplate code is that a slow or blocked runtime delays the first paint.

The AMP framework is still maintained: its main code repository received changes through October 2026. Maintenance is not the question. The question is whether a second version of your pages still earns its cost.

Myths to ignore

• AMP makes a page rank higher. Google says AMP content ranks like any other page.
• Only AMP pages reach Top Stories. Google's documentation describes AMP as one way to appear in rich results, not the only way.
• AMP pages are loaded from Google. Not since 1 July 2026. Visitors go to your server.
• AMP is the fastest way to pass the Core Web Vitals. A light normal page passes the same marks. See whether page speed affects rankings for what Google says about speed.

Check your own page

Run the free audit on a normal article and, if you have one, on its AMP copy. Compare the server response time and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). If the normal page is as fast or faster, the AMP copy adds work without adding speed.

Sources

• About AMP on Google Search on Google Search Central: AMP pages are indexed like other pages, rich results, desktop, and the guidelines.
• Remove your AMP pages from Google Search on Google Search Central: the removal steps, the redirect and the warning about empty files.
• Latest Google Search documentation updates on Google Search Central: the 1 July 2026 change to publisher-hosted AMP pages and the removed AMP Cache references.
• SEO chapter of the 2025 Web Almanac on HTTP Archive: AMP usage in 2025 and the end of the Top Stories requirement.
• AMP HTML specification on GitHub: required markup, the script rule and the 75,000-byte style limit.