Google brings AMP to email for interactive, engaging messages, Gmail support this year

Abner Li | Feb 13 2018 - 7:12 am PT

After introducing the Snapchat-like AMP story format, Google is bringing Accelerated Mobile Pages to emails — in what could “modernize one of the most popular places where people spend their time.” AMP for Email is an open spec that allows for more interactive experiences, with Gmail support expected later this year.

Since launch, AMP’s feature set on the web has expanded with developers now able to build rich webpages. Google now wants to bring those interactive, engaging, and actionable experiences to email.

For example, imagine you could complete tasks directly in email. With AMP for Email, you’ll be able to quickly take actions like submit an RSVP to an event, schedule an appointment, or fill out a questionnaire right from the email message.

At the moment, email is not interactive, with most actions requiring users to visit an embedded link. AMP for Email imagines an experience where users can stay within their email client to accomplish many tasks.

One conceptual rethink that AMP would introduce to email is live content that is not static and could update. This could possibly reduce the number of received emails, with users able to just return to a message to see any status changes.

Many people rely on email for information about flights, events, news, purchases and beyond—more than 270 billion emails are sent each day! AMP for Email will also make it possible for information to easily kept up-to-date, so emails never get stale and the content is accurate when a user looks at it.

AMP for Email is an open spec that Pinterest, Booking.com and Doodle are already developing experiences for. The former was an early AMP partner and has an experience where users can save “pins” to their personalized boards. Another demo shows users being able to update travel deals, as well as manage subscription settings.

The spec and a developer preview is available today, with Gmail support planned for later this year. Google ends the announcement post by noting how it looks “forward to seeing how other email clients will adopt it.”