I have resigned from the Google AMP Advisory Committee

As per the AMP AC charter, I have resigned with immediate effect. As I was a non-corporate representative, I will not be nominating a replacement.

I have loved working with the AC. They are a team of brilliant individuals who are all committed to trying to make AMP better, and I’m sorry to leave them. I’ve been a member of the AC for a little over two years and now is the time to step away and let a wider variety of people work on the committee.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I am starting an MSc in January so I’m trying to cut back on my extracurricular activities.

The stated goal of the AMP AC is to “make AMP a great web citizen.”

I am concerned that – despite the hard work of the AC – Google has limited interest in that goal.

When I joined, I wondered whether I could make a difference. I hope that I have been a critical friend. The AC has encouraged AMP to think more about user needs – rather than Google’s needs. And changes to the search carousel were also a concern of the committee which have been partly addressed.

Google’s thesis is that the mobile-web is dying and people prefer to use apps – therefore making the web faster and more app-like will retain users. Google don’t publish data about this, so I can’t directly criticise their motives. But I do not think AMP, in its current implementation, helps make the web better.

I remain convinced that AMP is poorly implemented, hostile to the interests of both users and publishers, and a proprietary & unnecessary incursion into the open web.

I am glad that I tried to make it better, but I’m sad to have failed.