Google Improves External Flash Indexing

Google started to index Flash files in June 2008. Before this time a heavy reliance on Flash, such as the use of Flash-only pages, was very detrimental to SEO. Since that time Google search has improved its algorithm to ’see’ and read Flash files better than ever. Eventually, I believe Flash will be read as easily as any page of text today. Staying on top of how Google reads Flash is especially important for people using or would like to use Flash in combination with SEO.

Recently the Google Webmaster Central Blog has announced another improvement in its Flash indexing capabilities which is important to note:

Google Indexes Flash From External Files

Google’s Official Webmaster Blog recently announced they can now index the content of external SWF files. This is a significant step because Flash often loads external files to generate the SWF file you see in the player. As a result, Google now can read and index the contents of Flash files better than ever. This is a big step in eliminating any negative effects of heavily relying on Flash while optimizing SEO.

To visualize this change, Google shows the result of a search engine query for 2002 VW Transporter 888. The resulting website contains external Flash content Google couldn’t have indexed prior to this update. Below you can see the screenshot of the search result, and you can visit the indexed website to view its Flash.

This is a great step in Google’s evolution in indexing and reading Flash. They’ve come a long way since they started reading Flash back in June 2008. Here is how their capabilities have evolved since:

1. Indexing text that is dynamically presented as a user interacts with the file by clicking buttons and entering input.

2. Discovering and indexing html links with Flash files.

3. Associating the content of external resources with their parent files.

4. Improved support for JavaScript techniques that are used to embed Flash.

For a great summary of these improvements in more detail, view Google’s summary of its improved Flash indexing.

Conclusion
Google continues to improve its Flash reading capabilities, and I expect Flash not to be an issue at all in terms of search engine readability and SEO within a few years. It is always prudent to know the latest updates to Google’s algorithm to stay ahead of the optimization curve.

Do you use Flash on your websites? Have you avoided it because of its impact on SEO? What’s your take on Google’s latest improvements?