During the summer of 2012, more than 12 months ago now, Google dropped support for Flash websites in its Android 4.1 OS. Did you know that?Actually, it was Adobe that decided not to support the Android OS, and Google just followed their lead. By default, this means that you can no longer see any type of Flash video or website widget on an Android smartphone or tablet. (Steve Jobs said years ago that Apple was never going to allow the iPhone to see Flash videos, which has remained true all these iPhones later.)
Of course, since the Android OS is an open system, there are ways to add Flash support... as long as you have the skills of a would-be hacker or you're a developer.
I took the time to explain this because mobile website optimization is now a necessity, and if you have Flash elements on your website, it's time to get rid of them. Those flash navigations and animated logos are worthless.
But what about Flash video? Don't worry; HTML 5 has a new video feature that's easier to use than Flash.
But what about your Flash intro page? Well, if you still have a Flash intro page on your website, you are seriously out of date. Flash intro pages were popular throughout the late 90's and early 00's, but they faded from popularity quickly after the iPhone came out in 2007 and users couldn't see them or click past them. Many PC users got sick of them much earlier.
Actually, in 2008 Google modified their search results to include a link that said [Skip intro] so desktop users and smartphone users could jump past those worthless intro pages. That [Skip intro] link is still visible in search results for those few remaining websites that still have Flash intros.
In fact, just last week I was googling for a list of all the jewelers in a particular town when I saw this list of local stores:
Notice the "Skip intro" that I circled in that image. That's the first time I've see the option to skip a Flash intro from the Google+ Local listings on a desktop computer. I tried the same search from my iPhone and Android, but the option to Skip intro wasn't there.
Google has different teams of people working on the features for mobile and desktop search results. This is certainly a handy little feature, but it would be better served on the smartphone results. Hopefully it will be added soon.
The bottom line of today's Daily Golden Nugget is that it's time to remove Flash from your website. Those Flash intro pages were always worthless; they never told the viewer anything of value. Google started telling you they were worthless in 2008, and now it's even more clear.
Got a Flash intro? Get with it and redesign your website.
