Google Is Creating a Separate Index For Mobile And It Will Be The Primary One

Over my cold dead body will I ever start using AMP.

I understand the sentiment, but there's a huge movement behind AMP. The proof is right there in the mobile serp's. The very same SERP that will eventually become separate from and primary to the desktop serp.

My opinion is that it would be shortsighted to ignore it. AMP might not be the final answer to a faster mobile Web, but it's part of an ongoing iniative by Google and others.
 
Google has been using these same scare tactics to get you guys to do exactly what they wants. It told you SSL was a ranking factor so everyone jumped onboard. It told people to use Google+ and we all know how that went. Now it wants you to literally host your website on Google's servers when the reality is if you wanted to you can already have your website load in under 1 sec; so this time they threw in "well desktop will not be as fresh". Give me a fucking break, am I really suppose to believe they are going to screw over desktop when desktop users are still responsible for the majority of ecommerce purchases AND generate higher revenue for them with Adwords and through Adsense?

When doing a revenue comparison they make more money from a desktop user versus a mobile user. In fact I can guarantee that when everyone else does the same comparison 95% are making more money from desktop users when compared against their mobile users.

Do you honestly believe they are going to abandon their most profitable segment - or in their words "refresh it less"? Would you?

When people make statements like this, especially corporations, there is another subtle communication being made. Here they want more people to create mobile experiences - "oh and here is AMP by the way which we are heavily pushing".

I am an early adopter of where users are going, I pushed for speed when folks thought speed WAS NOT a ranking factor and said I was crazy. I said go mobile before most. However when it comes to Google products, I will happily be a late adopter cause I just don't believe them. They've tried to change the internet multiple times, but no one entity can nor SHOULD they.

Sorry, this isn't their internet - it is ours.
 
I totally agree on the AMP thing, I've thought that was total bullshit as soon as they announced it and I've seen no evidence in the last year to indicate otherwise. I also haven't seen a big change in the SSL ranking algo adjustment. Responsiveness matters, especially for non-branded searches on mobile, but most of the other shit Google says needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
 
The thing is, Google has a long history of talking about the direction they would like to see things go, while disingenuously speaking about it in a manner as if it already is or absolutely will be such. They're simply talking about something they might like to do. That's it. What they like and what the reality actually is are often two very different things.

One shining example is, a few years ago Matt Cutts made an announcement that they were going after spammy queries like "payday loans". Then this happened in response, clearly by someone with a great sense of humor:

matt-cutts-pay-day-loan-hack-1371472489.png

Oh, and on the subject of AMP, I am not at all impressed. I have it running on a few sites in production, since it's free and I felt like testing it for curiosity sake. It literally offers nothing over a typical static page. The performance is nothing impressive, and in some cases actually a bit disappointing compared to the hype surrounding it. What it does offer is increased reliance on third parties. In other words, the offer isn't for YOU. When something is free, that often means you are the product.
 
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