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Codemonkey · 2008-07-01 #3

I first heard of Google's collaboration with Adobe on the Flash on the Beach convention last year in London. Then it was a far cry away still. Glad it is becoming more tangible already!

Q: How does Google "see" the contents of a Flash file?
We've developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on. Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed. We can't tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm's effectiveness was improved by utilizing Adobe's new Searchable SWF library.

Q: What are the current technical limitations of Google's ability to index Flash?
There are three main limitations at present, and we are already working on resolving them:

1. Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. So if your web page loads a Flash file via JavaScript, Google may not be aware of that Flash file, in which case it will not be indexed.

	Codemonkey	2008-07-01 #3
	I first heard of Google's collaboration with Adobe on the Flash on the Beach convention last year in London. Then it was a far cry away still. Glad it is becoming more tangible already! Q: How does Google "see" the contents of a Flash file? We've developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on. Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed. We can't tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm's effectiveness was improved by utilizing Adobe's new Searchable SWF library. Q: What are the current technical limitations of Google's ability to index Flash? There are three main limitations at present, and we are already working on resolving them: 1. Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript. So if your web page loads a Flash file via JavaScript, Google may not be aware of that Flash file, in which case it will not be indexed.