Chad Egeland

Matt Cutts, Google Webmaster Central Blog and The Official Google Blog are all now reporting that the Google search algorithm has changed and now has the ability to index Adobe Flash Files.  According to Google you can expect some of the following changes:

Q: Which Flash files can Google better index now?
We’ve improved our ability to index textual content in SWF files of all kinds. This includes Flash “gadgets” such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between.

Q: What content can Google better index from these Flash files?
All of the text that users can see as they interact with your Flash file. If your website contains Flash, the textual content in your Flash files can be used when Google generates a snippet for your website. Also, the words that appear in your Flash files can be used to match query terms in Google searches.

Along with the indexing of text contained within flash files Google will now be able to follow URLs from within the flash documents this will allow flash websites to now optimize their internal link strategies.

I think that it’s about time Google was able to index text contained within flash files but from a accessibility and usability standpoint this may be a bad thing. Currently most developers with any knowledge of SEO would stay away from flash for fear of not being indexed by the search engines. Now with this obstacle out of the way I fear we may see a new rise of the huge loading, mystery meat navigation, ego stroking flash pages of yesteryear.

Developers who now wish to jump on the Flash bandwagon once again will still need to remember that just because Google can now read text it doesn’t mean that user accessibility can be sacrificed. Users with disabilities who depend on screen readers and users still on dial up connections may still need an alternate quick loading static text only site created to allow them better access and usability within your site.