AdWords adds Flash ads to its ad lineup

April 25, 2005

AdSense publishers could begin to see Flash ads appear in ad units they have selected to allow image ads to run on.

Your image ad inventory will also include a small number of Flash ads from a test group of advertisers. These new ads will adhere to the 50KB size limit for image ads, and will be reviewed according to our content guidelines.

While many advertisers believe that Flash ads convert better, this could cause problems for publishers who keep their sites Flash-free. And it could result in problems when Flash ads attempt to display for those surfers who do not (or chose not) to have Flash installed on their computers.

As a publisher, I am not so happy about this change. I keep all of my sites Flash-free because of those who do not have Flash installed, as well as the segment of my visitors who still utilize dial-up and do not have Flash installed for that reason. It doesn’t seem that there is a way for a publisher to opt-out of Flash ads without opting out of all image ads at this time.

It will be interesting to see what kind of results Flash ads produce, and if it will become available beyond the select group of advertisers at a later date.

Posted in Google AdSense