Can Google Index Flash?

After years of the rather defined rule that use of Fash equates to search engine optimization death, Google has figured out how to crawl flash content. Sorta. Mostly. Not really.

How Google Crawls Flash

The technologist in me asks: how did they do this? Apparently, Google (and Yahoo) had a little help from Adobe.

“Adobe is providing optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo! to enhance search engine indexing of the Flash file format (SWF) and uncover information that is currently undiscoverable by search engines.

Google is just first to figure things out, or at least announce it. They've developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on.

What Google Can Crawl in Flash

Then the designer in me asks: Flash is complex; what exactly can Google now crawl?

• textual content in SWF files of all kinds
• words that appear in your Flash files can be used to match query terms in Google searches
• URLs that appear in Flash files

In summation: Google can crawl text.

What Google Can Not Crawl in Flash

Then the critical analyst in me asks: doesn't leave that a lot not indexed? Yes.

• Google will not crawl Flash embedded with javascript. At this time, most Flash websites are now embedded using JavaScript due to object embedding court hearing with IE.
• Google will not crawl external resources that are loaded by your Flash files.. A lot of flash sites use a separate flash file to load the main SWF. In essence, the only flash file that will be indexed is the loading file.
• Google will not crawl XML files loaded by Flash. Aside of the annoying use of flash for a brochure site, most rich media sites load data via XML (separation of presentation from data is a good thing). Bye bye data.

What, Again, can Google Now Crawl in Flash

So, what does that leave? Flash as it applies to basic brochure sites. Most of which could have been programmed with DHTML or similar technology. In other words, exactly where we started.

Our suggestion? A technical hurdle has been cleared, but we we have a long way to go. If you are in a redesign or have one coming up, and search engine marketing matters to you, keep Flash out of the picture for non-relevant content. Revisit things in 12 months when the details are more defined.