Google: AMP Pages Aren't Used For Search Snippets; Unless

Nov 7, 2016 - 8:07 am 1 by

Flame Google 1900px

Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that Google uses the canonical page for the search results snippet in Google - and often that is not the AMP page.

This comes when someone asked "what is the maximum and recommended meta description characters for AMP pages?" The answer is, this question is not applicable.

John replied, "AMP pages aren't used for the snippet -- only the canonical pages are used."

Of course, the follow up to that question is, what if the AMP version is the canonical version. What if the site is only published using AMP and there is no alternative version?

I am not sure why John did not reply to that specific question - because it is a good one.

I have to assume Google will use what is on the AMP page for the snippet in that case, but I guess someone can test it and see how Google reacts? Update, I should have mentioned that someone outside of Google's own AMP blog should test it, because the AMP blog is only built on AMP and they handle snippets fine.

Update: John Mueller does clarify if AMP is the only source and is the canonical, then they do use it for snippets:

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 17, 2026

Jul 17, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google 7/11 Update, Bing Penalties, Google Images, AI Overviews AI Images, Google Ads Updates, ChatGPT Ads Features & Apple Maps

Jul 17, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Making Broader Smart Bidding Updates? Google Says No.

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Maps

Did Google Maps Turn Off OpenTable Reservations?

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Renamed NotebookLM Useragent To Google-GeminiNotebook

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google StoreBot Accessibility Issues Help Document Updated

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: Google: Content Within Tabs & Hidden For User Experience Will Have Full Weight