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Amazon Puts An End To Flash Ads

Flash-related news isn’t usually good news for Flash these days. The most recent bit comes from Amazon, which announced that it is about to stop accepting Flash ads. The company had this to say ...
Amazon Puts An End To Flash Ads
Written by Chris Crum
  • Flash-related news isn’t usually good news for Flash these days. The most recent bit comes from Amazon, which announced that it is about to stop accepting Flash ads.

    The company had this to say on its Technical Guidelines page for Amazon Advertising (via Digiday):

    Beginning September 1, 2015, Amazon no longer accepts Flash ads on Amazon.com, AAP, and various IAB standard placements across owned and operated domains.

    This is driven by recent browser setting updates from Google Chrome, and existing browser settings from Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari, that limits Flash content displayed on web pages. This change ensures customers continue to have a positive, consistent experience across Amazon and its affiliates, and that ads displayed across the site function properly for optimal performance.

    Flash was in the spotlight last month when Facebook’s Chief Security Officer called for its demise.

    “It is time for Adobe to announce the end-of-life date for Flash and to ask the browsers to set killbits on the same day,” he said. “Even if 18 months from now, one set date is the only way to disentangle the dependencies and upgrade the whole ecosystem at once.”

    Then, Mozilla blocked all versions of Flash in Firefox after security researchers discovered vulnerabilities that affect various operating systems, that hadn’t been patched.

    From there, various media outlets called for Flash to be put out of its misery. The reality is, however, that many advertisers are still using it.

    We recently looked at a study from Sizmek, which called this a “major issue”.

    What’s happening is that Flash ads that would otherwise be dynamic are appearing as static images on mobile device, and this can ultimately cost the advertiser clicks and conversions.

    “This raises questions as to whether or not marketers are aware of how many of their ads are not being seen properly and how much ad spend they are wasting,” a spokesperson for the firm told WebProNews.

    As for Amazon, you can see what it wants from advertisers here.

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