Google adds Flash to search tools

Google has added Flash to its search index

Google has announced that users will now be able to index and search Flash media files.

The company has added the code into its indexing algorithm which will allow its indexing bots to gather text from the SWF files used to present Flash content.

Google users will be able to search through code contained within the Flash file itself, as well as Flash banners, buttons and menus.

"In the past, web designers faced challenges if they chose to develop a site in Flash because the content they included was not indexable by search engines, " wrote Google engineers Ron Adler and Janis Stipins.

"Now that we've launched our Flash indexing algorithm, web designers can expect improved visibility of their published Flash content, and you can expect to see better search results and snippets."

The new software will also be able to find and index URLs embedded in Flash files as it does with HTML files.

The new algorithm will not, however, be able to index other elements of Flash files. Images will not be indexed by the software, and Flash files which rely on JavaScript will not be accessed by the search tools.