Chrome To Freeze Flash Ads On Sight From September 1

An anonymous reader writes: Shaun Nichols from the Register reports that unimportant Flash content will be click-to-play by default in Google Chrome from September 1. He writes, "Google is making good on its promise to strangle Adobe Flash's ability to auto-play in Chrome. The web giant has set September 1, 2015 as the date from which non-important Flash files will be click-to-play in the browser by default – effectively freezing out 'many' Flash ads in the process. Netizens can right-click over the security-challenged plugin and select 'Run this' if they want to unfreeze an ad. Otherwise, the Flash files will remain suspended in a grey box, unable to cause any harm nor any annoyance."

Comments

Re:I've had this as a plug-in.

[Joce640k]

...except that google gets to decide which adverts are played and which aren't.

I'm betting Google's own dancing monkeys will be as annoying as ever.

Re:I've had this as a plug-in.

[greenfruitsalad]

no, this will stop only what chrome deems unnecessary. not everything.

now how about those damn autoplaying youtube videos? flash or no flash, they still autoplay and then play the next one, next one, next one, etc..

non-important?

[thegarbz]

Basically, "essential" Flash content (such as embedded video players) are allowed to automatically run, while non-essential Flash content, much of that being advertisements, will be automatically paused.

So.... queue adverts posing as video players in 3. ... 2...... 1......

Why can't they stop the autoplay of ALL content.

Re:I've had this as a plug-in.

[MightyMartian]

I'm assuming HTML5 graphics and videos will still play, so if it's limited to just Flash, so what?

Re:I've had this as a plug-in.

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you been asleep for the last ten years? Flash is a huge issue for a bunch of different reasons., and has been considered a legacy solution for some time now. HTML 5 is the modern replacement. Chrome isn't freezing HTML 5 content from advertisers, but if advertisers do insist on using Flash that's up to them; it won't be without consequence any more.

Jeez, can any company do anything without this mindless cynical twattle about capitalism?

Re:I've had this as a plug-in.

[MightyMartian]

I think the real point here is that the big guys have finally decided Flash must die.

Re:I've had this as a plug-in.

[hairyfeet]

And the sad part? So many here will cheer when HTML V5 video is worse in every metric than Flash by a country mile!

Uses more resources? Yep, both CPU cycles and memory, just compare Flash/VP8 to HTML V5 H.264 of the same quality and you'll find its a pig. they try to hide how big a hog it is by offloading to the GPU but guess what? GPU cycles don't grow on tress and all that extra power sucking will equal much quicker battery drain.

Has less features? Yep again, when it comes to animation and gaming HTML V5 isn't anywhere as good as Flash, despite it being in development for...what? The better part of a decade?

And finally the rotting elephant in the room...DRM. Adobe not only has always allowed any format to be put in a flash container but they also have had zero problems with people redistributing Flash or even producing a FOSS option in Gnash. Compare this to HTML V5 which thanks to APPL and MSFT is tied to H.264, a format owned by one of the nastiest patent trolls on the planet. Anybody think they are gonna let FOSS OSes add support without cutting them a check?

I'm all for replacing flash but it should be with something BETTER, what we are getting with HTML V5 is practically a wish list written by APPL and MSFT to help their position. think APPL wants HTML V5 to be great for animation and gaming and possibly compete with their appstore? Think MSFT wants a video format that doesn't have a patent tollbooth for any possible competition?

So if you want to replace Flash? Then replace it with something BETTER, with more features, more open formats, less resource usage. What we are doing is replacing one bad idea for another and that isn't progress to me.