What experts are saying about AMP for Email

Have you heard the big news?

Yesterday, Google announced a plan to "modernize" email by offering native support for dynamic and interactive email powered by AMP, otherwise known as the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project. 

“Today, we’re bringing the power of AMP to email through the Gmail Developer Preview of AMP for Email — a new way for developers to make emails more interactive and engaging. With AMP for Email, it’s easy for information in email messages to be dynamic, up-to-date, and actionable,"  said Gmail product manager Aakash Sahney.

You can watch the full announcement from the AMP Conference in Amsterdam here:

While interactive email has been a trending topic for a while now, this news isn't without its complexities, and opinions about the benefits and pitfalls of AMP for Email already vary across the board. So for a more comprehensive look at the pros and cons, we've gathered some of our favorite perspectives on AMP for Email from industry experts: 

1. Gmail Announces Native Support for Dynamic and Interactive Email Powered by AMP

In this post, the smart folks at Litmus (our go-to experts for all things email design and development) break down exactly what AMP is, how it will function within the context of email, and what it means for the email development community at large. 

2. AMP for Email: What You Need to Know About Google’s New Interactive Email Effort

Here, Justin Khoo of Fresh Inbox shares a comprehensive look at the potential benefits, use cases, and drawbacks of AMP for Email – plus why he thinks it might be overkill at this point in time. 
 

3. AMP for Email Is a Terrible Idea

Clearly, not everyone is on board with this announcement, and some folks are downright against it. Case in point: Devin Coldewey of TechCrunch. Here, he offers an alternate and interesting position on AMP for Email and explains why we should all reject this offering from Google. 

We also asked Logan Baird (Emma's resident #emailgeek and Design Services Lead) his thoughts on the news. 

That's Logan! 

His response: 

"For many years, Gmail was one of the email clients that was an challenge to innovation in the email marketing industry. The update in October 2016 to support embedded style sheets and media queries brought them closer to parity with the more progressive mail clients, and now with the latest announcement regarding AMP for Email, Gmail looks as though it might actually be pushing what’s possible with email forward instead of holding it back. 

As email marketers, designers, and developers, we do all we can to make our emails a place where the reader remains engaged with our brand, and the possibilities that AMP for Email holds in this regard are exciting - more ways to capture attention, more opportunities to create a complete brand experience in the inbox."
 

What do you think? Is this a positive or negative development for the email marketing industry? Will people actually hop on board and use AMP for Email? Would you rather have seen something like full CSS support? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!