In a recent announcement Google made it clear that they are firm on moving away from Flash once and for all. What once used to be a cutting edge technology to use for advertising purposes will soon be no more. Google is officially making the shift towards HTML5 due to shifting trends and patterns in the marketplace. Particularly due to the uprise of mobile usage.
Fortunately in this round of changes marketers have a bit of wiggle room for adequate response towards this change. No, this change will not impact your organic SEO presence.
Starting June 30, 2016 Google AdWords and DoubleClick advertisers will no longer be allowed to upload Flash ads to each of the platforms. While that seems a bit of ways away in reality it really isn’t. The official cutoff for Flash ads will be January 2, 2017 at what point any pre-existing Flash ads will drop-off automatically. If you have not made the leap by then than chances are you will be S.O.L. (Sorry!).
Google provides free tools and resources providing the ability to comprise eloquent ad messaging for its Display Network. Particularly with HTML5 technology in mind. Very cool if you ask me. The Google Web Designer Beta particularly is a great free tool for building rich HTML5 designs and motion graphics that can run on any device. There is even a Google Web Designer Beta Fundamentals Exam for those savvy and heavily intertwined with creative and design. Something worth throwing up on your LinkedIN profile maybe for added recognition and additional credibility.
You can find all the nuances regarding the upcoming shift here. On a last note I wanted to point out as well that Adobe has also fully acknowledged the ramifications of the upcoming change. So much that they have gone as far as fully renaming its Flash Professional software to Animate CC. The renaming occurred in December 2015.
The mobile revolution has invoked the need for HTML5. Google states that it is all about “enhancing the user’s browsing experience”.
Do you have any thoughts or comments regarding this post? Please share it below. I’d love to hear them.