Summary
AMP for Email, or Accelerated Mobile Pages for Email, was introduced by Google to bring interactive, app-like experiences directly into the inbox. While promising enhanced engagement and dynamic content, its adoption has faced a number of hurdles. Despite its potential to transform email interactions, many marketers and companies have either cautiously adopted it or decided against its full implementation. This section provides an overview of its current usage and the primary obstacles standing in its way.
Key findings
- Limited adoption: Despite its long existence, AMP for Email is not widely adopted by email senders beyond a few prominent companies or specialized use cases.
- Complex implementation: Implementing AMP emails requires additional technical expertise, including handling multiple MIME types and ensuring fallback HTML versions, which can deter many organizations.
- Evolving support: While major clients like Gmail support AMP, broader support across all email clients remains inconsistent, impacting its universal appeal. For more on how email deliverability works generally, refer to our guide on email deliverability in the current landscape.
- Engagement benefits: For those who do implement it, AMP emails can significantly increase user engagement by allowing interactive elements like forms, carousels, and calendars directly within the email.
- Security concerns: AMP URLs have been exploited in phishing campaigns, raising concerns about their use in malicious activities (ThreatDown by Malwarebytes, 2024).
Key considerations
- Return on investment: The effort required for AMP implementation may not always justify the return, especially for senders with a diverse audience and varying email client usage.
- Fallback strategy: A robust fallback HTML version is crucial to ensure that all recipients, regardless of their email client's AMP support, can view the content effectively.
- Deliverability impact: While AMP itself doesn't directly harm deliverability, poor implementation or lack of adherence to AMP standards can lead to issues. Our article on how HTML coding affects email deliverability can offer further insights.
- Spam and phishing: The interactive nature of AMP emails has unfortunately been leveraged by malicious actors, necessitating careful security vetting by mailbox providers.
- Tracking challenges: Performance tracking for AMP emails can be more complex than traditional HTML emails, as highlighted by Mailmodo's guide on AMP email limitations.
What email marketers say
Email marketers are often caught between the desire for innovative, engaging content and the practical realities of implementation, compatibility, and deliverability. While the allure of interactive emails is strong, many marketers express reservations or have found the complexities outweigh the perceived benefits for their campaigns. Their opinions often reflect the day-to-day challenges of managing email programs at scale.
Key opinions
- Cautious adoption: Many marketers are curious about AMP but have not yet fully integrated it into their regular sending routines, sometimes observing that even Google uses it sparingly for its own communications.
- Approval process: A significant hurdle cited by marketers is the individual mailbox provider approval process for sending AMP emails, which often lacks transparency in terms of turnaround times.
- Development overhead: Creating and maintaining AMP emails, along with their necessary HTML fallbacks, adds considerable development overhead, making it less appealing for lean marketing teams.
- Engagement potential: Despite the challenges, some marketers acknowledge the strong potential of AMP emails to foster deeper user engagement and deliver immediate value within the inbox (CleverTap, 2023).
Key considerations
- Audience compatibility: Marketers must consider their audience's primary email clients. If a large segment uses clients that don't support AMP, the investment may not be worthwhile. Our guide on best practices for email testing is important here.
- Resource allocation: Deciding whether to allocate development and design resources to AMP often depends on the potential for increased conversion rates and user experience improvements.
- Strategic fit: AMP email is best suited for specific use cases like surveys, bookings, or real-time updates where immediate interaction in the inbox significantly enhances the user journey. For example, some B2B companies use it for new user adoption or feedback collection (Dyspatch, 2020).
- Deliverability monitoring: As with any new email technology, marketers need to closely monitor their deliverability and inbox placement rates, as changes in email templates or content can sometimes impact performance. Learn more about how new email templates affect deliverability with Gmail.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks indicates that they are curious about AMP for Email but also notes that even Google appears to use the technology somewhat infrequently, perhaps only once every few months. This suggests a perceived lack of consistent adoption even by its primary proponent.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks states that their company, AWeber, incorporates AMP into most of their user sends. They highlight that a significant challenge is the mailbox provider's sign-up approval process, which often involves unpredictable turnaround times.
What the experts say
Industry experts often approach AMP for Email with a blend of technological understanding and practical skepticism. They acknowledge its technical merits and potential for innovation but also highlight significant challenges related to widespread adoption, security implications, and the resource investment required. Their insights often focus on the broader ecosystem, including mailbox provider behaviors and the nuances of email deliverability.
Key opinions
- Limited market penetration: Experts generally agree that AMP for Email has not achieved the broad market penetration initially envisioned, partly due to the niche nature of its support among email clients.
- Phishing vulnerability: A significant concern raised by security experts is the potential for AMP URLs to be exploited in phishing campaigns, as their trusted appearance can mislead users (Cofense, 2024).
- Resource intensity: Developing and testing AMP emails requires specialized skills and tools, making it a resource-intensive endeavor that many organizations are hesitant to undertake.
- Google's shifting focus: Some experts observe that Google has deprioritized AMP HTML for the web, leading to questions about the long-term commitment to AMP for Email, although it remains a distinct technology (Netcore Cloud, 2023).
Key considerations
- Standardization challenges: The lack of universal standards and fragmented support across email clients make it difficult for senders to justify the investment in AMP, given the potential for inconsistent user experiences.
- Deliverability implications: While AMP emails themselves are not inherently spammy, any deviation from established best practices, especially concerning HTML structure and fallback content, could inadvertently trigger spam filters. You can also explore our article on why emails get throttled by Gmail and Microsoft.
- User experience vs. complexity: Experts weigh the potential for a superior user experience against the significant complexity involved in crafting and delivering AMP emails, particularly when simpler HTML alternatives suffice for most marketing goals.
- Security vigilance: Given the use of AMP in phishing tactics, experts advise heightened vigilance from email senders and receivers alike to mitigate potential abuse of the technology. For instance, read about Google AMP as a phishing tactic.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks notes that while AMP for email offers enticing interactive possibilities, its current implementation hurdles, particularly around consistent rendering across all major clients, still pose a significant challenge for widespread adoption.
Expert view
Expert from SpamResource highlights that the real-world utility of AMP for email often falls short of its theoretical potential due to the complex validation requirements and the need for robust fallback HTML content for non-supporting clients.
What the documentation says
Technical documentation and research papers shed light on the intricacies of AMP for Email, outlining its specifications, compatibility requirements, and the underlying architecture that enables interactive content within the inbox. This perspective is crucial for understanding the technical roadblocks and considerations for implementation, emphasizing the standards and best practices necessary for successful deployment.
Key findings
- MIME type requirement: AMP for Email requires senders to add a new MIME-type to the email code (text/x-amp-html) in addition to the traditional HTML and plain text versions.
- Client compatibility: Key email clients supporting AMP for Email include Gmail, Outlook.com, and Mail.ru, while many others still lack native support, necessitating robust HTML fallbacks.
- Strict validation: AMP emails must adhere to a strict set of AMPHTML validation rules to ensure proper rendering and security, with any deviations potentially leading to display issues or rejection by mailbox providers.
- Security protocols: The framework incorporates security measures, such as Google's monitoring of content, to detect and block malicious emails, though new phishing tactics attempt to exploit its trusted appearance.
Key considerations
- Code complexity: The requirement to create a distinct AMPHTML version, alongside standard HTML, increases the complexity of email development and necessitates specialized tooling or expertise.
- Performance impact: While AMP aims to improve performance within the email client, the added complexity in tracking can make campaign performance measurement more challenging (Mailmodo, 2020).
- Dynamic content handling: AMP for Email allows for highly dynamic content, but implementing this effectively requires careful planning to ensure the content remains relevant and functional across different user interactions.
- Standard vs. interactive: Documentation often emphasizes the trade-offs between the rich interactive experience offered by AMP and the universal compatibility of standard HTML emails, guiding senders on when to prioritize one over the other. For a deeper understanding of deliverability issues, consider reviewing our guide on email deliverability issues.
Technical article
Documentation from CXL outlines that AMP email is a novel framework that mandates senders to include a new MIME-type within their email code. This technical requirement is fundamental for AMP email functionality and adherence to its standards.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailmodo explains that performance tracking within AMP emails can be difficult. While the main goal of AMP is to enhance platform performance, its interactive nature sometimes complicates the ability to accurately track campaign metrics.
Related resources
15 resources
Related pages
Why do new email templates affect deliverability with Gmail?
How does email deliverability work in the current email marketing landscape?
How to protect email deliverability for image-only emails?
What are the best practices for email testing to avoid deliverability issues?
What to do when emails are blocked by major ISPs despite passing DMARC, SPF, DKIM?
Why is my email getting throttled by Gmail and Microsoft despite high engagement and good reputation?
How does HTML coding affect email deliverability and are emojis safe to use in email marketing?
Email Deliverability Issues: Getting Your Messages to the Inbox in 2025
Why Your Emails Are Going to Spam in 2024 and How to Fix It
How to Run an Email Deliverability Test: A Proven Checklist
