Following a preview last February, Google brought its AMP for Email project into general availability, allowing companies to imbue their emails with interactive and engaging web-like experiences. Gmail on the web natively supported the format at launch, but the Gmail app for Android and iOS didn’t — until today.
Google this morning announced that Gmail on Android and iOS will gain support for dynamic email starting on November 21. That date is for G Suite domains — some Gmail users might see it sooner. Admins won’t need to activate the feature before dynamic emails will show up — it’s on by default — but users who access Gmail through a third-party mail app that doesn’t support AMP will be served a static version of the email.
Dynamic emails created with AMP for Email allow you to take action directly within a message, whether that’s responding to a comment, RSVPing to an event, purchasing a product, or managing subscription preferences. Content within dynamic email is kept up to date, meaning you’ll always see the most up-to-date information when you open an email, like order status of an e-commerce order or the latest job postings.
Above: Dynamic emails in Gmail.
Google’s tapping dynamic emails to supercharge first-party products like Google Docs, which lets you see the latest comments that have been added to a discussion thread and respond and add your own comment to the thread. Additionally, a number of notable brands embraced AMP for Email during the developer preview stage including Booking.com, Oyo Rooms, Freshworks, and Pinterest, the last of which allows users to peruse content and pin this content to boards without leaving Gmail.
AMP for Email isn’t a Gmail-exclusive feature, it’s worth noting. Because it’s an open standard, other email providers are able to access and implement it, including Microsoft’s Outlook.com, Russia’s Mail.ru, and Yahoo Mail. Additionally, third-party email design and delivery platforms such as Twilio’s Sendgrid, SparkPost, Amazon SES and Amazon Pinpoint, and Litmus already — or will soon — support the AMP specification.
“Over the past decade, our web experiences have changed enormously — evolving from static flat content to interactive apps — yet email has largely stayed the same with static messages that eventually go out of date or are merely a springboard to accomplishing a more complex task,” noted Gmail product manager Aakash Sahney. “If you want to take action, you usually have to click on a link, open a new tab, and visit another website.”
Author: Kyle Wiggers
Source: Venturebeat
