Difference Between Flash and HTML5 - The Future Of Online Advertising

Google will be “pausing” all flash creative by default in the next release update of Chrome, which is anticipated to be released late this summer.

When you’re on a web page that runs Flash, we’ll intelligently pause content (like Flash animations) that aren’t central to the web page, while keeping central content (like a video) playing without interruption. If Chrome accidentally pauses something you were interested in, you can just click it to resume playback.

This feature will be enabled by default on Chrome’s latest version and will be rolling out soon to everyone else on Chrome desktop. If you need to manually enable it, just head to Chrome’s content settings and select “Detect and run important plugin content.”

Impact on Online Advertising

For advertisers, this could mean shelling out first-class money for economy-class impressions.

Though it might be painful to admit for an industry that has relied on Flash for over a decade, the right choice is to start creating desktop ads in the HTML5 language used to create ads for mobile.

What is HTML5?

HTML5 is advance version of HTML which include various new tags such as <video> <audio><embed><canvas> etc.

With this kind of new tags developers can easily built web pages.

Advantages of HTML5

* All mobile devices are supported by HTML5 which means there will not be any dependability on Plugin/Flash issue with HTML5.

* HTML5 is free and easy to code.

* HTML5 can be used to create the ads which can run on Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile devices easily.

* HTML5 help to built the ads which are responsive in nature which mean width of the ad will be adjusted as per device.

* HTML5 allows users to play videos, music and animations on the page without requiring any plug-ins. Developers can also use just Javascript to create compelling graphics, diagrams and animations for their pages.

* SEO support is one of the biggest advantages of HTML5 for modern-day marketers aiming to rank higher on search engines.

* HTML5 enables better form fields and search boxes, which is advantageous for businesses looking to encourage visitors to sign forms or spend some time browsing the site.

Example of HTML5:

http://www.bannerflow.com/examples/

Example of HTML5 Project is Pharrell William‘ Happy:

http://24hoursofhappy.com/

Flash:

Flash is vector based technology where all assets(Images/Animation/Audio/video) are stored inside the container and are served via adobe flash.

The coding used is Action script 2 for old and for latest flash are built using AS3.

Flash is an older technology, as compared to HTML5. It was one of the most popular ways to add interactivity, video and animations to websites.

In order to view these videos and/or animations, a Flash plugin needed to be downloaded and installed in the web browser. An advantage for HTML5 over Flash is that as HTML is supported by nearly all web browsers, it does not require an additional plugin to be installed.

Adobe Flash is an out-of-the-box development platform you must purchase.

Advantages of Flash:

* Vector-based – eliminates the need for raster-based movie files with large file sizes.
* Flash allows for a lot of interactivity, supporting audio, animation, and advanced video handling
* Supported by 99% of browsers

Which is best for online advertising?

Many of the agency are suggesting to used HTML5 as the standard for all kind of ads due its responsive nature. beside it covers nearly 68% of the population which are using Mobile phone.

Flash	HTML 5
Proprietary	Open Source
Non-Responsive	Responsive
Built language AS3/AS2	HTML5
Not compatiable on Apple	Compatiable on Apple
Plugin Required	Runs Natively in the browsers
High CPU use	Light weight so Low CPU use/high Performance/Battery life
Varying Video/Audio Support	Currently resticted to MP4 or H.264 and WebM