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Google is killing off Flash-based advertising

It's going 100 percent HTML 5.

Stuwdamdorp / Alamy

Google has announced that its Google Display Network and DoubleClick Digital Marketing (DCDM) platforms will begin phasing out the use of Flash ads starting June 30th. From the start of July through the end of the year, advertisers will no longer be able to upload Flash ads into AdWords or DCDM. And, starting January 2nd, 2017, any existing Flash ads will cease to function on any of Google's ad networks. This only applies to static ads, mind you. Flash-based video ads will not be affected.

This move comes as the entire industry slowly migrates away from Flash in general. The player software has long been maligned for being laughably insecure. Chrome already started blocking some Flash-based ads last September, Firefox has vowed to eliminate support for the format by the end of 2016, and even Adobe has tried to distance itself by renaming its Flash Professional app.