How Google AMP is Changing the Future of Email

With over 270 billion emails sent every day, email has prevailed as one of the most quintessential features of the internet. But, while the rest of the internet has undergone major changes in terms of user-friendliness, emails have pretty much stayed the same. Until now.

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are designed to load at lightning speed on phones. AMP content ensures a faster and seamless browsing experience for mobile users. AMP has been a big part of Google’s recent push for a user-first net browsing experience, and now it has finally found its way to email.

But, slow loading speed has never been an issue with emails. So, why introduce AMP to email? Well, AMP-powered emails will elevate each message from a simple act of communication to an interactive, actionable, and responsive experience. Users will be able to complete simple tasks straight from an email itself.

Currently, emails offer an inert, inactive experience to recipients. Their flat, static content simply acts as a jumping-off point to actual actionable experiences. Users have to click on attached links that open in separate tabs, taking them to a whole other website. Google aims to change this, by taking emails beyond such limits.

With Google’s new AMP features, email senders can now send dynamic emails that recipients can use to browse catalogues, fill out forms, schedule appointments or even respond to comments. All without having to navigate away from the email itself. Basically, Google has made it possible to format emails and send them as AMP Pages.

Developers will enjoy open access to the vast AMP components library, so that they can introduce exciting interactive components to their emails. They’ll be able to play around with popular AMP markup features like carousels, forms and lists, among others. AMP emails will be infused with an element of real-time interactivity.

Because AMP for emails is an open specification, other email providers (besides Gmail) like Yahoo Mail and Outlook are also gearing up to support it. Google has already bagged development support from email design and delivery platforms like SparkPost and Litmus. AMP emails are already being rolled out.

Imagine receiving an email about your flight information that updates itself, as and when the flight status changes. Senders will be able to ensure that updatable, fresh and accurate information is conveyed through their AMP-based emails. And that’s not to mention the time saved, by enabling users to complete the tasks right within emails.

Chances are – you might already have received an interactive AMP-based email if you subscribe to businesses like Doodle, OYO Rooms, Pinterest or Booking.com. For marketers, AMP for email is a new way of engaging their customers. They’ll find it easier to snag potential customers by enabling them to take action straight from the email itself.

Despite its many user benefits, some are perceiving AMP for email as Google’s attempt to colonize the email format and exert its influence over yet another aspect of the internet. Also, there is a lot to be said for the simplicity of a regular email. Turning emails into complex mini-applications may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Google is introducing AMP for email slowly, but surely. They have included a  standard HTML markup as a fallback for email clients that don’t support AMP for emails yet.

Only time will tell if Google succeeds in bringing emails to the 21st century.