[mthoms]

Every single site these days has a modal or overlay that obscures/distorts the content.

People have learned that clicking that little X gets rid of the obstruction so they can view the page as it was intended.

You probably dismiss hundreds of these EU cookie notices per week.

[w33ble]

I hadn't realized it, but yes, this is exactly the experience I expect. The AMP page is like a modal I front of the actual site. Or that's how I think of it anyway.

[mthoms]

Search engines have never worked like this (up until now that is). It's just not what the average user expects. It's also a dangerous precedent IMHO.

[kuschku]

Why? It’s exactly what the average user expects. They see a site, with some message on top. Be it a cookie warning, the AMP header, etc.

They click the X or OK on the message, the message disappears, the site stays.

If you can find a website where the cookie warning’s X button redirects to your last Google search, please do so.

[mthoms]

Either you replied to the wrong comment or I wasn't clear in my comment. We are totally in agreement.

[mikewhy]

Right, and I consider it a modal over the search results, not the page that hasn't been displayed yet.

[mthoms]

Yes, but the only reason you think that is because you understand the technical underpinnings (ie. the content is indeed being served by the same domain as the search results).

Regular users have been expecting search results to behave a certain way for over two decades. Opening the results in a modal is simply not the expected behaviour. Changing the back button is not the expected behaviour.