Search engine Google to warn mobile users about Flash sites

Google will warn users of the mobile version of its search engine when pages in the search results use a lot of Flash content. Website owners should use HTML5 techniques, warns the search giant.

Not only for Flash content has been warned since Monday, but also for other techniques that may not work on the user’s device. Google does not mention these other techniques by name, but these include java and Silverlight. Flash doesn’t work on iOS, among other things, as well as on more recent Android devices.

Website owners should ditch Flash and other plug-ins for HTML5 techniques, Google warns, to ensure their sites work on all devices. In addition, they must ensure that they do not block javascript code, stylesheets and images from the search engine via robots.txt, because Google says they need those files to properly understand the structure of a website.