As of 2016, Google no longer supports flash ads. Read more here >>>

Google have recently announced big changes to the way Chrome supports Flash.Video and rich media can provide users with a much more engaged experience but they can also impact browser speed and battery life. For users to speed up browsing and reduce power consumption on pages containing plugin content Chrome will now pause certain content including many Flash ads to conserve a computer’s resources. This has been the default in Safari since last year.Because of the Chrome changes and because most mobile devices don’t support Flash, supporting HTML5 could be critical to the success of your rich media campaigns in the future.Rich media Flash ads could look like this:pic 1If you are using Flash creatives (.swf) it’s important to ensure all of your campaigns start running HTML5 units instead of Flash units.DoubleClick HTML5 Solutions:

  • DoubleClick will automatically convert your existing standard (non-rich) Flash ads into HTML5: The Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool in DoubleClick Campaign Manager and DoubleClick Bid Manager automatically converts your non-rich Flash ads into HTML5 ad units. You may lose a lot of quality.
  • Easily build rich HTML5 units with pre-made templates: DoubleClick Studio Layouts and Google Web Designer offer pre-made HTML5 rich media templates. Simply select the format you want, upload your creative assets, customise and publish. See available templates at richmediagallery.com.
  • Build HTML5 units from scratch:
    • o Google Web Designer offers a robust yet intuitive HTML5 authoring tool for your creative developers and designers to build HTML5 units from scratch. You can either use the design view to bring your vision to life, no coding necessary. Or you can switch to code view for open, editable code to customise the details. Download Google Web Designer.
    • o If you would rather build HTML5 with your favourite code editor, Studio supports hand-coded HTML5 and many of the code libraries sophisticated developers are accustomed to using

Additional Resources

  • Educational:
  • The DoubleClick Studio HTML5 Certification Exam can provide more details and instructions for building and publishing successful HTML5 rich media units.