• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 8, 2016

The advertising industry is experiencing a shortage of talent -- experts versed in HTML5 coding -- since Apple, Google, Microsoft, Firefox and others announced the death of Flash. It has been forthcoming for years. Now it's here and some agencies and publishers are scrambling to adapt and make it work.

"I've seen a shortage of people versed in HTML5 throughout the industry," said Mimi Kotter, digital project supervisor at
Meadsdurket, a San Diego-based digital agency.

Kotter began searching for someone to code in HTML5 in 2015, when Google, Microsoft and others announced they would stop accepting Flash-based advertisements and content.

"We interviewed people for the job who said they knew HTML5, but it turns out they were pretty much learning on the job," Kotter said.

The shortage of talent forced Meadsdurket creators to produce Flash campaign in 2015. Many online publications also didn't know how to implement HTML5 into their ad-serving technology. They hadn't set up their systems to accept it. Some mom-and-pop shops still don't, Kotter said.

Kotter also began searching for an alternative. She solved the problem last year by adopting a platform called Thunder, which automatically converts files from Flash.

Despite the warning, the death of Flash and how to work around the change caught marketers flat-footed. Several other agency insiders told Search Marketing Daily they have either experienced the shortage or heard grumblings about not being able to find talent.

"Last year's announcement spurred action, but some agencies don't update their creatives for a year, which is pretty amazing," said Victor Wong, Thunder CEO. "You can imagine if you created it last year you still might be running it today. Others may operate campaigns worldwide, in countries where Flash is still being used."