MobileNew Google Mobile Alert: Websites Using Flash May Not Work on Your Device

New Google Mobile Alert: Websites Using Flash May Not Work on Your Device

Google now warns mobile searchers when it detects pages that may not work on their devices (e.g., sites made with Flash). Google has shared resources for developers that will enable them to build websites that work for all devices.

Here’s a scenario for you. You’re watching television and see the most hilarious commercial about a singing cat (or something else ridiculously adorable), and of course you must see more videos of singing cats.

It’s essential that you send it to your friend Peggy. Because let’s face it, Peggy has a bit of a cat obsession.

You pull up the search results on your device, click the link, and nothing. Your video can’t play because you don’t have the required Flash player.

After you spent 20 minutes combing through search results trying to find the right video it would have been nice to know which videos you would be able to text to Peggy so that she could watch them on her iPhone.

As of this week, you’re in luck! Google has updated their algorithm to detect specific pages that may not work on your mobile devices.

Uses Flash. May not work on your device

Per Google, “Adobe Flash is not supported on iOS devices or Android versions 4.1 and higher.”

It’s 2014: Optimize For Your Customers

Nielsen’s 2014 Digital Consumer Report found that 84 percent of people that have smartphones and tablets utilize them while watching TV at the same time. Additionally, adults in the United States spend an average of 34 hours per month on the Internet on a smartphone and only 27 hours on a desktop.

What does this tell us? People are spending more time accessing information from their smartphones than they are their desktops. It’s no longer a question of should you optimize for smartphones and other mobile devices, but how quickly can you get there.

HTML5 is a great alternative to Flash because all devices support it. Google has created a series of resources for developers that will enable them to build websites that work for all devices. These resources are:

Since I’m sure all you can think about now is singing cats, I’ve included a video below of a cat singing Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock N’ Roll”. And yes, it will work on your device.

Resources

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

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