Google's AMP, the Canonical Web, and the Importance of Web Standards
Buongiorno, un altro esempio di involontaria strategia «Embrace and extinguish» del web. ...un altro piccolo ma molto significativo esempio della «fenomenologia degli standard», che storicamente a tutto sono serviti tranne che contribuire a rendere il mercato accessibile e concorrenziale. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/07/googles-amp-canonical-web-and-importan... «Google's AMP, the Canonical Web, and the Importance of Web Standards» Alexis Hancock; Thu, 2 Jul 2020 --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- Have you ever clicked on a link after googling something, only to find that Google didn’t take you to the actual webpage but to some weird Google-fied version of it? Instead of the web address being the source of the article, it still says “google” in the address bar on your phone? That’s what’s known as Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), and now Google has announced that AMP has graduated from the OpenJS Foundation Incubation Program. [...] What Is AMP? This Google-backed, stripped down HTML framework was created with the promises of creating faster web pages for a better user experience. Cutting out slower loading content, like those developed with JavaScript. At a high level, AMP works by fast loading stripped down versions of full web pages for mobile viewing. [...] AMP pages began making an appearance by 2016. But right away, many observed that AMP encroached on the principles of the open web. The web was built on open standards, developed through consensus, that small and large actors alike can use. Which, in this case, entails keeping open web standards in the forefront and discouraging proprietary, closed standards. [...] The final URL, the one in view or the URL bar, of a cached AMP page would look something like this: https://www.google.com/amp/www.example.com/amp.doc.html This cache model does not follow the web origin concept and creates a new framework and structure to adhere to. The promise is better performances and experience for users. Yet, the approach is implementation first and web standards later. Since Google has become such an ingrained part of the modern web for so many, any technology they deploy would immediately have a large share of users and adopters. This is also paired with other arguments other product teams within Google have made to reshape the URL as we know it. This fundamentally changed the way the mobile web is served for many users. [...] If Google was simply a web performance company that would still be too much centralization of the web’s decisions. But they are not just a one-function company, they are a giant conglomerate that already controls the largest mobile OS, web browser, and search engine in the world. [...] Furthermore, the web standards process itself is far from perfect. Standards organizations are heavily dominated by members of corporate companies and the connections one may have to them offer immense social capital. Less-represented people don’t have the social capital to join or be a member. It’s a long way until a more equitable process occurs for these types of organizations; paired with the lack of diversity these kinds of groups tend to have, the costs of membership, and time commitments. These particular issues are not Google’s fault, but Google has an immense amount of power when it comes to joining these groups. When joining standards organizations, It’s not a matter of earning their way up, but deciding if they should loosen their reigns. [...] --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- «The web standards process itself is far from perfect.» è una battuta spettacolare, perfetta per un titolo di Lercio. Saluti. Giovanni. -- Giovanni Biscuolo
Il July 3, 2020 5:26:25 PM UTC, Giovanni Biscuolo <giovanni@biscuolo.net> ha scritto:
What Is AMP?
This Google-backed, stripped down HTML framework was created with the promises of creating faster web pages for a better user experience. Cutting out slower loading content, like those developed with JavaScript.
AMP è anche un reverse proxy (Google AMP Cache) che permette a Google dì tracciarvi senza nemmeno il bisogno di farvi eseguire Google Analytics. E grazie ad esso, taglia fuori la concorrenza dal tracciare la vostra navigazione: può profilarvi solo più lui... non vi sentite già meglio? Giacomo
Qui trovate una breve analisi tecnica e politica dell'articolo della EFF https://mastodon.social/@nyquildotorg/104452770877391416 È interessante perché evidenzia come Google abbia utilizzati il proprio potere commerciale imponendo di fatto ai giornali online di adottare AMP per finire nelle Top Stories (in evidenza). Non esserci significava meno click e dunque un danno economico rilevante. Poi, prima che qualcuno coinvolgesse l'anti-trust, ma dopo aver costretto i più grossi player ad adottare (e dunque supportare) la sua tecnologia, Google ha tolto questo vincolo facendo entrare di nuovo anche contenuti non AMP nelle Top Stories. On a side note, è divertente che inizialmente JavaScript fosse vietato nella pagine AMP per ragioni di performance (oggi sono permessi fino a 150k di JS per pagina), mentre sempre Google (e la sua filiale geek-friendly Mozilla), non prende nemmeno in considerazione l'ipotesi di renderne Opt-in l'esecuzione per tutelare la sicurezza degli utenti. D'altronde, fuori da AMP, JavaScript per loro è fondamentale: non possono rinunciare ai dati personali sottratti ad utenti inconsapevoli attraverso Google Analytics! Giacomo
participants (2)
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Giacomo Tesio -
Giovanni Biscuolo