Google has been developing a new algorithm for indexing textual content in Flash files of all kinds, from Flash menus, buttons and banners, to self-contained Flash websites. Recently, we’ve improved the performance of this Flash indexing algorithm by integrating Adobe’s Flash Player technology.
In the past, web designers faced challenges if they chose to develop a site in Flash because the content they included was not indexable by search engines. They needed to make extra effort to ensure that their content was also presented in another way that search engines could find.
Now that we’ve launched our Flash indexing algorithm, web designers can expect improved visibility of their published Flash content, and you can expect to see better search results and snippets. There’s more info on the Webmaster Central blog about the Searchable SWF integration.
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So does this mean we will start to see a whole load of flash sites in our search results? I doubt it since even though flash sites look nice, many don’t actually have all that great textual content for the end user.
Still, good work by Google.
About the Author:
Chewie is from a mysterious part of the United Kingdom called Up Norf. He has been working in web development and SEO for over ten years, beginning as a developer and moving to SEO in search of the perfect rank. As well as SEO he likes football, beer, girls and gravy - often at the same time.
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