Google Chrome has officially blocked all Flash content from displaying that isn’t “central to the website”. This means Flash content such as auto playing video on non-video website’s will automatically be paused. The option to play will still be available. This will not effect video players on websites such as YouTube.
The new Flash blocking feature was first released as a beta version on Chrome earlier this year, the initial reason was battery life, with the pop up ads consuming a lot of CPU capacity.
The Flash update could also help fight against malware attacks with Flash having a long history of exploits, the most recent in July where hackers were able to remotely execute malicious code. The latest changes will put pressure on some advertisers who have been focused on Flash to incorporate HTML5/CSS3 adverts which they should have done a long time ago.
The majority of advertisers are still designing Flash adverts even on mobile, despite mobile devices never fully supporting Flash in the first place. Google automatically converts Flash ads on the adwords network to HTML 5 while some sites do not accept the ads at all. A recent report by mobile ad management firm Sizmek claimed that advertisers tried to deliver more than 5.35 billion Flash ads in Q1 2015—which ended up defaulting to static images—versus 4.25 billion HTML5 ads.
We recommend discussing options with your digital agency, an ad built in html5/CSS3 will work better than a converted Flash ad. We at Big Fusion can create ads using the latest technology, to discuss your requirements contact us today.
