Starting with the next version of Chrome from the stable channel (v.45), which should be released on September 1, Google's browser will begin automatically pausing auto-playing Flash ads.
Auto-playing Flash ads consume more battery life, as they require significant processing power for them to run and can also slow down web page loading. These are two of the main benefits Google mentioned when it announced the new Chrome 45 feature.
Flash has also been in the news recently for having some significant code vulnerabilities that were so bad it even prompted Mozilla to block all Flash content by default for a few days, until Adobe released a patch.
Steve Jobs said years ago that Flash uses too much battery life, requires too much performance to even be practical for mobile use and is also a major security risk. Since then there has been a major push to replace Flash with HTML5 content, although the transition has been quite slow. After the recent security vulnerabilities, though, more companies seem interested in putting the final nails in Flash's coffin.
Amazon has also recently announced that it will ban Flash ads (opens in new tab) from its websites:
"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."
With major companies that have a great impact on the web -- such as Google, Amazon, Apple and Mozilla -- all determined to finally kill Flash, this time it may just happen, and relatively soon.
Google warned advertisers to convert their Flash ads to HTML5 by September 1. Those who use Google's Adwords platform will see their newly uploaded Flash ads automatically converted to HTML5. However, advertisers should also try to identify whether all of their ads are eligible for automatic conversion. If they aren't, the advertisers should use Google's other Adwords tools to create HTML5 ads.
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