HTML5's Search For Independence From Flash

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Companies have begun to phase out Flash in exchange for HTML5 because Apple products don't support Flash, Google cannot index interior pages, some browsers don't display Flash objects, and Yahoo and Bing struggle to read the content. Search engines like Google go to great lengths to explain the shift.

InboundWriter, which supports content optimization for search engines, revamped its platform to support HTML5 for tablets and smartphones. The new version bids adieu to Adobe Flash and supports optimization in the writing process for search and social by improving editor functions with dozens of new format options and support for tighter integration between the user's document library and Topic Buzz, the company's new social sharing monitoring feature.  

A couple of Web design and search engine optimization firms -- Vento Solutions, and U.S. SEO -- created a coalition and Web site to inform the public about the war on Flash and its effects on the Internet. The site chronicles the events that led to the demise of Flash.

Is HTML5 good for search engine optimization and applications? In a post on the Google Webmaster form, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller explains that Google bots are pretty good at parsing the common kinds of HTML-like markup, including HTML and XHTML. Crawlers indexing systems don't do anything special for HTML5, so there is no "bonus for using HTML5 constructs," but similarly no downside either.

Mueller suggests focusing on clean markup because it's much easier to maintain the Web site, and add new elements like microformats. It also typically makes the pages more portable across a variety of browsers and devices.

With that in mind, he writes, "there's nothing holding you back (from a search point of view) from creating an awesome site in HTML5 :)."

Have a safe July 4.

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1 comment on "HTML5's Search For Independence From Flash".

1. Anthony Ellertson from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
   

   commented on: July 3, 2012 at 3:28 p.m.
   Well, HTML5 standards will have to agree what its video codecs are before anything can happen on that front. Still still no Digital Rights Management on the HTML5 side, no real hardware acceleration for premium video content, and limited interactivity for video delivery with Javascript. On top of that, mobile apps are overtaking the mobile browser, and Microsoft and Goolgle have backed Flash into their own stuff. In fact, Microsoft just did that for their new Metro systems, giving Flash major preference over many other plug-ins. So, what is the story you are reporting here? You leave so much stuff out that it seems a little one sided.

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