Google intends to drop support for Flash-based ads in favor of ads coded in HTML5 in January 2017. That’s a long way off, but it gives advertisers plenty of time to prepare for the transition.
Another date you should mark on your calendar is June 30th of this year, as that is the date ads in the Flash format can no longer be uploaded on the Google Display Network. Advertisers have up until June 30 year to upload any Flash-based ads they may have, after which time Google will no longer be accepting them.
So if you’re working on any Flash-based display ads, ship them by June 30, and they’ll be in circulation throughout the following January.
Google adds that it’s important to update your display ads before these dates, which should go without saying at this point. The company also ads and important note that video ads built in Flash will not be impacted by this change.
Google is seeing the writing on the wall that it needs to convert more of its Flash properties into HTLM5. This shift has been coming gradually, starting with making it the default format for YouTube.
Adobe’s player accounted for only 6% of mobile and web video in 2015. Flash is still relevant today in large part due to the fact it has been regularly used in the internet’s biggest ad networks. With Google dropping support for Flash-based ads, industry experts predict the format might be dead in as little as 2 years.
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