Google and Yahoo To Index Flash Files
By Anna Johnson on July 4th, 2008Great news for Flash lovers. Adobe is working with Google and Yahoo to enable the search engines to index Flash (SWF) files and the information – such as text and links – they contain.
Google has already incorporated the Flash reading technology into its search engine and has begun indexing Flash content across the web. Yahoo is currently working with Adobe to determine the best possible implementation. The new indexing will apply to all existing Flash (SwF) content – so developers need not modify or upgrade their SWF files in any way.
Of course, as Erick Schonfeld from TechCrunch points out, making Flash content indexable is one thing… improving search engine rankings is another.
Since so much depends on authoritative back-links – which, as Google has admitted, is the MOST important consideration when Google ranks sites – the outstanding issue is to make it easy for webmasters, bloggers and others to deep-link into those Flash files. Until this happens, don’t expect all those Flash-heavy pages to leap up the SERPs just yet!
Even so, the indexing of Flash content is a great step forward for Adobe, Google, Yahoo, Flash developers, webmasters and search engine users alike.
So… what is Microsoft doing about it?
Sources: Adobe, “SWF searchability FAQ”, Adobe, July 1, 2008, Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch, “Once Nearly Invisible To Search Engines, Flash Files Can Now Be Found And Indexed”, June 30, 2008
