Today we made a big announcement that will make huge improvements in how SWF files will be indexed in top search engines. You can read the full details by checking out the official press release.
So what exactly has happened here? Basically we have created some new technology that we are providing to leading search engines like Google and Yahoo! which allow them to fully parse and index Flash files. Google is already using this new technology and Yahoo! is will be coming onboard shortly. This will greatly improve how your Flash sites will show up in search engines.
Since this is brand-spanking new technology there aren’t yet any “best practices” that have developed for how to make your SWF files take the most advantage of this new technology. These will develop over time. Look for details here as things develop. But this is a groundbreaking partnership that is a huge step forward for helping Flash become fully searchable.
Lee
Yesterday I was checking “swfaddress” when an other user pointed in the comments about it , and of its features is :
- Finding specific content with the major search engines
So is this the same technology or should we use both later
Hey Lee
This is great news for real!
Are there any notes explaining how this will work in relation to the various swf embedding methods (to do with active content). How will it work with adobes AC_FL function and swfobject etc?
Thats such good news, ive had to build so many html websites i didnt want to, or use complicated alternate text, hopefully thats a thing of the past now
Great!! Last week I’ve got some troubles wth a client because of his flash site results in Google.. Good news!
I know this is a big deal for a lot of people, but I don’t understand why – to me, it looks more like a distraction from more useful features that could be implemented. Google can already pull the strings out of a swf. What other useful information could be in there, that I would want to expose to the world?
I get that SEO is an item on every Player hater’s list… But that doesn’t mean it’s right for the platform. My two cents.
Wow!!! I think there won’t be any excuse for those who reject to work on Flash!!!
ah, excellent news for us designers expected to build SEO into our work, but who prefer to work in flash.
i’m using swfaddress almost exclusively, and it’s a great framework for how to set up files and (deep)linking, but being able to have engines parse text in swfs efficiently is a great step forward.
if i say “it was about time” , i don’t mean it bad
nice work adobe!
i also hope that contribute once will be able to edit flash as a CMS.
a man can dream
1. Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. So if your web page loads a Flash file via JavaScript, Google may not be aware of that Flash file, in which case it will not be indexed.
So SWFObject is no good? What about SWFAddress?
2. We currently do not attach content from external resources that are loaded by your Flash files. If your Flash file loads an HTML file, an XML file, another SWF file, etc., Google will separately index that resource, but it will not yet be considered to be part of the content in your Flash file.
That describes how most well-put-together flash sites manage content. So what about sites that load the main content into a shell swf? Only the shell gets indexed?
Would love to know.
Mohammed brings up a good point. Does SWFObject (or other JavaScript-based solutions for embedding Flash content in HTML) allow Google to find the SWF in question?
This is great new Lee! One more plus for Flash!!
That is awesome some news!
I already use Faust for my flash content. It offers both SEO and alternate content to users without the correct flash player. Marc Jensen spoke about it at Flashbelt this year.
http://blog.space150.com/2007/1/11/faust-flash-augmenting-standards
Hm, nice News and just about time. But some conventions/best practices will become handy.
This could be great news depending upon the answers to the questions below (seriously, this is a step forward whatever the ansers):
My questions are related to whether Google can read SwfObject which as you know is the standard form of embedding Flash on the web now.
If it can’t then this is pretty useless to a lot of people until the find an alternative embedding technique.
If it can and I use javascript replacement techniques to offer html text content to non-javascript enabled browsers (including search engines), does that mean that Google will read my replacement text and the text within my Flash movie as ‘duplicate content’?
Awesome, but why stop here?
Make Flash more accessible to screen readers and convert presentation into auditory experiences so that blind and seeing challenged folks can participate in the fun.
Firstly lost apologize for my English, I think that is good news for all those who use Flash, and bad news for those who criticized the Flash because they can not be indexed.
Awesome Lee, thanks for the update. This is a big deal for me and any of us developers/designers. Flash: One , Silverlight: Zero.
Really Great News!
Great news. I’ve been waiting for such an announcement.
News are great but we still have problems with Flash 8 which is now most popular in FLASH development community all we could see is menu links but not a single word from our content pages … So as it was SDK+Flash 6 is still number 1 for flash SEO optimization.
There will be a lot of happy Flash devotees out there when this rolls out properly- what great news!
The biggest problem remains when content ‘sections’ are loaded into a main shell file (which improves end-user experience in my opinion because load time is faster). As soon as Google can properly find and thus index these external swfs then we’ll all be happier.
Wow, does that mean text in swf will be indexed?
This is indeed good news, from what I have been reading it will mainly look at the words used in the swf files, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the best practices comes up with. I wonder how it will deal with the file sizes, will it favour quick loading sites more…