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by apexalpha 2562 days ago
I agree with you. I would prefer a world where AMP isn't needed and websites don't ad 4MB of bloat to their sites.

But, we don't live in that world I'm afraid. And for many news websites I don't want to even begin downloading the auto-playing video on their page. So AMP is for many the easiest choice.
2 comments
fauigerzigerk 2562 days ago
AMP is not needed to promote less bloated websites in search results. Google could easily boost the ranking of lightweight websites without AMP.

AMP is an obvious abuse of a dominant market position and Google will come to regret it.

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tracker1 2562 days ago
I wish they would... boost websites with < 1mb of html+css+js payload (exclude images). Extra points for optimized images for mobile by default, with upsizing for high density or larger displays.

Google could very well have given huge boosts to small/fast websites, and then the sites would have had to figure it out wrt advertising and bloat. It would have been a much better result.

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dcbadacd 2562 days ago
They could, but then we'd see a lot of cheaters even there, AMP is very locked down. I don't like the market position abuse either, but the other parties are far from guilt free.
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fauigerzigerk 2562 days ago
Of course SEO will never end. But if the question is how to improve the open web, then turning the open web into a Google property is not an answer.
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dcbadacd 2562 days ago
Signed exchanges are a thing, I don't see how Google intervenes there more than just providing the AMP standard.
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bluetidepro 2562 days ago
Again, I'm not arguing that. I'm saying, Google should let us choose. If I want to download 4MB of bloat, let me. I don't like them making the choice for me that AMP is "the best" option. What you want, isn't what I want always, and that's my point. It is user hostile/a dark pattern for Google to force AMP on me, with no way to disable it.
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apexalpha 2562 days ago
In which way is Google forcing you to AMP? I've never encountered a website that didn't also have a not-AMP version.
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bluetidepro 2562 days ago
It's forcing me to go through AMP, that's what I'm saying. And in the case of the parent OG article this is all on, that is currently broken. Thus, forcing me to be stuck on AMP, with no way to bypass it. That's why it needs a setting to disable it entirely. I don't want to have to go through a website to get to the one I wanted. I don't need the AMP middleman.

You are completely not understanding my point of having the OPTION to disable it, so users who don't want to deal with AMP at all (myself, and many others) can have that ability.

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privateSFacct 2562 days ago
Can’t you still go to regular pages? I’ve never been forced to go to AMP pages. But I like them - people forget the full screen videos that popped up pre-AMP. Seriously - all this complaining you can’t load your bloatware pages is weird. AMP wouldn’t even be a thing if devs hadn’t trashed their own websites.
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jeltz 2562 days ago
No. You either have to switch to Firefox or use DDG to avoid AMP. I switched to Firefox.
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tyingq 2562 days ago
By not having a config item for their search to return the real url.

And, as in the main story, the AMP page bricking the link to the real url.

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dcbadacd 2562 days ago
They're working on signed exchanges, you'll soon see the "real URL" of the content.
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tyingq 2562 days ago
On Chrome only. While still retaining mandatory Google controlled JavaScript in the page (which is what's broken in this story). Not sure why real url is in airquotes. It's an actual issue.
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qtplatypus 2561 days ago
So on chrome you will have the option of getting to the real url, on firefox and other browsers you can use plugins.
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JoshMnem 2562 days ago
Signed exchanges are a terrible idea. They take control away from publishers and let large sites (AMP caches) control small sites. Google punishes web publishers with a traffic drop unless they allow Google to serve their websites from Google's servers and include Google's JavaScript. AMP, signed exchanges, and portals can't seriously be considered real standards.
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dcbadacd 2562 days ago
Which publishers is the control taken away? You're claiming news outlets have to be super afraid of punishment if they don't do AMP. That's empirically false, many news outlets dominate (or share the dominance) markets without doing any AMP. I don't necessarily like AMP, but claiming it's the (paraphrased) "worst thing after the black plague" is also dishonest, working on alternative solutions would be the right thing to do here.
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