Google Brings AMP on Gmail Opening the Way for Interactive Emails

• AMP emails will take user interactivity at an entirely new level, with clickable and moving elements in the content.
• Email marketers are cheering with joy, but many users are afraid this will actually clutter their experience.
• The running code will be safely contained, as there will be no option to add custom-made snippets.

Google is bringing AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) support for Gmail, and this means that we are about to get a lot more interactive with the emails that reach our inbox. So far, emails could contain text, images, and links, but AMP will take things to a whole new level by allowing content-rich functionality and interactivity. The support for AMP has already been implemented on the web platform of Gmail, with the mobile client set to follow soon. Yahoo and Outlook have also promised to add AMP support in the following months, so the “upgrade” is going to get global.

Google introduced the AMP back in 2015, as a stripped down version of HTML, and releasing the coding framework as an open standard. It’s lightness allowed it to be snippy, and also clean, so by 2016, it was integrated to Google’s mobile search results. The project has matured, and Google thought there’s no reason to hold it back any longer, turning the tap of interactive messages and changing the scene of email marketing. From now on, developers will be able to create AMP content emails and then let the receivers click on them, explore their contents, and witness a new experience right from their inbox page.

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For example, a company may send a product catalog with multiple pages, allowing the user to navigate it, click on the products that they are interested in, read descriptions, go back, compare prices, watch videos, enjoy animations, etc., all without ever leaving the email page, and without having to redirect elsewhere. But it’s not all bells and whistles, at least not for everyone. The support for AMP may make the experience overly complicated or straight out annoying, as interactive elements can be specifically created to deliver a somewhat irritating experience.

Others are worried by the fact that code will be running on their emails, but it is important to point out that AMP is implemented in a very constrained way on Gmail. There will be no full access to the JavaScript engine of the browser, so situations of arbitrary script code running will be impossible. Developers will use pre-determined snippets of code that offer specific functionality, so they will have some kind of building blocks to help them deliver the interactive experience they want. The first companies that signed up to use this feature include Pinterest, Booking.com, and OYO Rooms.

Are you excited with the AMP support on Gmail, or do you worry about the possibility of your inbox becoming unreasonably overwhelming? Let us know where you stand in the comments section beneath, and don’t hesitate to share your thoughts on our socials as well, on Facebook and Twitter.