SAN JOSE, CA — Adobe Systems Incorporated on is teaming up with search industry leaders to ensure Flash files can be indexed by search engines. Previously, rich-media files created with Adobe’s Flash technology were invisible to search-engine spiders, which meant Web pages that relied on the technology often were omitted from search results.In order to correct the problem, Adobe has provided optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo to enhance search engine indexing of the Flash file format (SWF). The companies hope by incorporating Flash-based code into the search-engines’ spidering software, previously invisible pages and files will be uncovered.
“This will provide more relevant automatic search rankings of the millions of rich internet applications and other dynamic content that run in Adobe Flash Player,” Adobe said in a statement. “Moving forward, RIA developers and rich Web content producers won’t need to amend existing and future content to make it searchable. They can now be confident it can be found by users around the globe.”
The published SWF specification describes the file format used to deliver rich applications and interactive content via Adobe Flash Player, which is installed on more than 98 percent of internet-connected computers, according to Adobe. Although search engines already index static text and links within SWF files, RIAs and dynamic Web content have been difficult to expose to search engines because of their changing states — a problem also inherent in other RIA technologies.
“Until now it has been extremely challenging to search the millions of RIAs and dynamic content on the Web, so we are leading the charge in improving search of content that runs in Adobe Flash Player,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “We are initially working with Google and Yahoo to significantly improve search of this rich content on the Web, and we intend to broaden the availability of this capability to benefit all content publishers, developers and end users.”
Google already has incorporated Adobe Flash Player technology into its search engine. With Adobe’s help, Google now can improve its reading of the content on sites that use Flash technology, helping users find more relevant information when conducting searches. As a result, millions of pre-existing RIAs and dynamic Web experiences that utilize Adobe Flash technology, including content that loads at runtime, are searchable without companies and developers having to alter them.
“Google has been working hard to improve how we can read and discover SWF files,” said Bill Coughran, senior vice president of engineering at Google. “Through our recent collaboration with Adobe, we now help website owners who choose to design sites with Adobe Flash software by indexing this content better. Improving how we crawl dynamic content will ultimately enhance the search experience for our users.”
Yahoo also expects to deliver improved Web search capabilities for SWF applications in a future update to its search engine.
“Yahoo is committed to supporting webmaster needs with plans to support searchable SWF and is working with Adobe to determine the best possible implementation,” said Yahoo Vice President of Search Technology Engineering Sean Suchter.
Users are excited about the news.
“Designers and Web developers have long been frustrated that search engines couldn’t better access the information within their content created with Flash technology,” SearchEngineLand.com Editor in Chief Danny Sullivan said. “It’s great to see Adobe and the search engines working directly together to improve the situation. The changes should help unlock information that’s previously been ‘invisible’ and will likely result in a better experience for searchers.”
