Google now serves AMP results from the publisher's own host page, no cache or signed exchange required. It cuts the maintenance cost and hands back your URL, but it also asks whether AMP still earns its place.
AMP was a deal you made with Google when mobile speed was scarce. Fast standard pages made the deal redundant.
Google has changed how it serves AMP pages. From now, a searcher who taps an AMP result lands on the publisher's own host page, not a cached copy on a Google URL.
The change removes a long-standing headache. Publishers no longer need to update the AMP cache or configure signed exchanges to have their pages served from their own domain. Google has also cleaned its documentation, stripping out references to the AMP viewer, the AMP cache and signed exchanges. AMP content will keep ranking like any other page.
For years AMP was a bargain with a catch. You got speed and a shot at the top of mobile results, but Google served your content from its own cache on a google.com URL, which muddied your analytics and your brand. That tension is easing. The bigger point is that AMP itself matters far less than it did.
Why it matters
If you still run AMP, this cuts the maintenance cost and hands you back your own URL and cleaner tracking. If you have been wondering whether to keep AMP at all, this is a nudge to ask the harder question. Modern frameworks and a well-built mobile site can hit AMP-level speed without the constraints. Australian publishers and content businesses should decide whether AMP still earns its place.
Publishers now need zero AMP cache updates and zero signed exchanges to serve AMP from their own domain
What to do about it
Speed is table stakes now, not a special format. Build a fast site and you stop needing Google's version of one.