> both are a free product that locks users into the company's revenue stream (ads in AMP for Google, Windows for MS)
Ads on AMP sites don't have to be from google
> both onboarded developers with promises to better user experience while locking them into a non-standard platform.
AMP, while a particular subset of HTML/JS, is still just a subset, aka part of the standard platform and can run in any browser. Calling it non-standard would be like calling it non-standard to use React. It's just a library/framework.
AFAIK they do if you want to be on the carousel above the search results on Google Search. It's part and parcel of using the Google AMP CDN. Sure you can use other CDNs (even roll your own) but then you do not appear on the AMP carousel above Google search results (which is highly valuable real estate).
> AMP, while a particular subset of HTML/JS, is still just a subset, aka part of the standard platform and can run in any browser. Calling it non-standard would be like calling it non-standard to use React. It's just a library/framework.
The fact it's a subset makes it non-standard because you cannot then write standard HTML / JS.
To flip the argument, this debate started because Chrome was accused of not following standards because it ignores some HTML properties (eg autocomplete). You could argue the same as you were for AMP that Chrome is following a subset.
Personally I find it a stretch to argue that x being a subset of the standard means x is a standard.
Complaining wouldn't change anything. Corporations don't change their policies because a few nerds moan on a few message boards.
> If your litmus test is “as bad as Microsoft” then that’s exactly what we will get.
It wasn't my litmus test. I feel you're missing my point because others are making that comparison and I'm saying the two don't compare. In Microsoft's case they broke from standards to lock people into their paid platforms. Clearly that's bad. But in Google's case the platforms are free and the break from standards doesn't lock users into any platforms. You can make arguments against Google break from standards if you want but comparing the two because they involve a web browser is just clutching at straws.
Now, if you wanted to argue about Google corrupting the web then AMP is a far better example. There are far more similarities between MS+IE and AMP even though AMP isn't a web browser:
• both are a free product that locks users into the company's revenue stream (ads in AMP for Google, Windows for MS)
• both push their product through their massive market shares (Google promoting their AMP CDN on Google Search above the search results, Windows shipping IE)
• both onboarded developers with promises to better user experience while locking them into a non-standard platform.
I could go on, but in short AMP is where you guys need to be worried about with regards to Google shifting the web landscape. Not whether Chrome follows spec on a small handful of specific tag properties. That's a whole lot of hysteria over nothing.