Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5 • Hacker News Board

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#21

Post by tdkl » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:22 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #6

akersten wrote: post #4

Shame that I automatically convert all ads to nonexistance. It's too little, too late for rich media/content-heavy ads. Especially in the mobile sector: * Ads are a performance burden on low-power devices * They consume extra battery; power is wasted on superfluous cruft * Bandwidth wasted; especially a concern given draconian data caps * Tracking and privacy concerns Not to mention the fact that ads are a primary at…

>They consume extra battery; I find it fascinating that Google is always hurting their own mobile experience. Between all the issues android has with wake locks and memory leaks and the massive infrastructure of location and 'lifestyle' tracking for ad delivery, its a miracle Android devices get any battery life at all. Even without this html5 conversion, Android battery life often pales compared to iOS or Windows Ph…

That's probably why they're in size of a small tablet now.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#22

Post by engendered » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:24 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #6

akersten wrote: post #4

Shame that I automatically convert all ads to nonexistance. It's too little, too late for rich media/content-heavy ads. Especially in the mobile sector: * Ads are a performance burden on low-power devices * They consume extra battery; power is wasted on superfluous cruft * Bandwidth wasted; especially a concern given draconian data caps * Tracking and privacy concerns Not to mention the fact that ads are a primary at…

>They consume extra battery; I find it fascinating that Google is always hurting their own mobile experience. Between all the issues android has with wake locks and memory leaks and the massive infrastructure of location and 'lifestyle' tracking for ad delivery, its a miracle Android devices get any battery life at all. Even without this html5 conversion, Android battery life often pales compared to iOS or Windows Ph…

Android battery life often pales compared to iOS or Windows Phone.

Chuckle. And this hilarious astroturfing gets a pass here.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#23

Post by bane » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:29 PM UTC

Almost 1500 days ago I made this prediction https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2300123

"(I can't wait for my quad core computer to grind to a halt with dozens of unblockable canvas advertisements wallpapering every website I go to from now on...sigh, the end is near"

The death of Flash doesn't necessarily mean a better world.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#24

Post by s_q_b » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:30 PM UTC

akersten wrote: post #4

Shame that I automatically convert all ads to nonexistance. It's too little, too late for rich media/content-heavy ads. Especially in the mobile sector: * Ads are a performance burden on low-power devices * They consume extra battery; power is wasted on superfluous cruft * Bandwidth wasted; especially a concern given draconian data caps * Tracking and privacy concerns Not to mention the fact that ads are a primary at…

Like you, I don't mind ads per se. I even feel badly blocking them, knowing that I'm depriving a content creator of revenue. But the issues you point out are the very reason I can't have them in my browser.

I used a computer without AdBlock the other day, and it was like stepping back into 1999 with every page saturated with the 21st century equivalent of animated GIFs and auto-play MIDIs.

An alternative ad network isn't as far fetched as it might seem. Clearly delineated simple ads were a key differentiator in early iterations of Google Search.

Perhaps what we need is a "ethical ads" network, with strict requirements on what could and could not be done:

1. Plain text and link only, with clear separation of content and advertising.

2. No user tracking (Maybe with explicit opt-in? And even then with as-good-as-possible anonymization of the stored data.)

3. A deal with AdBlock and competitors to share a cut of the revenue, in exchange for allowing Ethical Ads through.

If advertisers and ad networks keep following the current trajectory, there will come a day when ads are simply too intrusive, and ad blocking will go (even more) completely mainstream.

Rich media doesn't do advertisers any good if no one ever sees their ads.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#25

Post by wutbrodo » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:32 PM UTC

Zirro wrote: post #19

higherpurpose wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't most iOS apps ad-based, too?

Not most of them, in my experience. Most seem to rely on the initial purchase price only, and many of those that used to have ads have switched to in-app purchases. While I could not tell you for sure why this is, several statistics indicate that iOS users have more money to spend and piracy is much less frequent. Ads also have a tendency to disrupt the "experience" of using an app which may be more discouraged on Ap…

I would've thought on HN of all places that one wouldn't have to explain how silly it is to make conclusions based on incredibly anecdotal experience (particularly when more robust statistics are a quick Google away).

"According to Distimo App Analytics, the mobile apps with higher gross earnings in both the Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play Store use freemium monetization methods.In October 2014, nine of the top 10 apps in the iTunes App Store within the US were freemium games, with Clash of Clans, Candy Crush Saga, and Game of War: Fire Age leading the ranking (followed by Pandora Radio). You have to go all the way down to the 27th place on the list to find a paid app, in this case Minecraft."

http://thinkapps.com/blog/post-launch/paid-vs-freemium-app-m...

I've been keeping up with monetization statistics for apps, and last time I checked, ads+in-app purchase were 90-something % of revenue for iOS apps and growing.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#26

Post by wutbrodo » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:35 PM UTC

marquis wrote: post #15

Igglyboo wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just use an adblocker and you don't have to worry what format the ads are in.

Adblockers don't catch everything, and also on some sites I am happy to support via Ads but I cannot stand being interrupted with auto-play video. I've really enjoyed the complete silence from ads in Flash format and am not looking forward to a repeat of the early 2000s.

+1, I starting using click-to-play _years_ ago as a quick way to make sure that YouTube didn't autoplay when I opened it in a new tab. I don't use ad blockers for ethical reasons, so a pleasant side effect turned out to be neutralizing the most egregious behavior that ads would display (by and large autoplay etc tend to be Flash ads).

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#27

Post by whyever » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:39 PM UTC

Igglyboo wrote: post #10

marquis wrote: post #7

I run the flash blocker extension in Chrome. So I expect, the next extension I'll be running is a tag blocker with an option to enable on demand. (edit: known as "click to play" mode)

Or just use an adblocker and you don't have to worry what format the ads are in.

Running an adblocker when using Chrome on Android is non-trivial.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#28

Post by zabuni » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:40 PM UTC

s_q_b wrote: post #24

akersten wrote: post #4

Shame that I automatically convert all ads to nonexistance. It's too little, too late for rich media/content-heavy ads. Especially in the mobile sector: * Ads are a performance burden on low-power devices * They consume extra battery; power is wasted on superfluous cruft * Bandwidth wasted; especially a concern given draconian data caps * Tracking and privacy concerns Not to mention the fact that ads are a primary at…

Like you, I don't mind ads per se. I even feel badly blocking them, knowing that I'm depriving a content creator of revenue. But the issues you point out are the very reason I can't have them in my browser. I used a computer without AdBlock the other day, and it was like stepping back into 1999 with every page saturated with the 21st century equivalent of animated GIFs and auto-play MIDIs. An alternative ad network i…

This already happens, and people were upset about it.

https://adblockplus.org/en/acceptable-ads#criteria https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5995140

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#29

Post by Zirro » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:41 PM UTC

wutbrodo wrote: post #25

Zirro wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not most of them, in my experience. Most seem to rely on the initial purchase price only, and many of those that used to have ads have switched to in-app purchases. While I could not tell you for sure why this is, several statistics indicate that iOS users have more money to spend and piracy is much less frequent. Ads also have a tendency to disrupt the "experience" of using an app which may be more discouraged on Ap…

I would've thought on HN of all places that one wouldn't have to explain how silly it is to make conclusions based on incredibly anecdotal experience (particularly when more robust statistics are a quick Google away). "According to Distimo App Analytics, the mobile apps with higher gross earnings in both the Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play Store use freemium monetization methods.In October 2014, nine of the to…

It should be noted that your source focuses on revenue, and not the amount of ad-supported/non-ad supported apps in the App Store which was the original question.

Re: Google now automatically converts Flash ads to HTML5

#30

Post by makecheck » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 6:46 PM UTC

akersten wrote: post #4

Shame that I automatically convert all ads to nonexistance. It's too little, too late for rich media/content-heavy ads. Especially in the mobile sector: * Ads are a performance burden on low-power devices * They consume extra battery; power is wasted on superfluous cruft * Bandwidth wasted; especially a concern given draconian data caps * Tracking and privacy concerns Not to mention the fact that ads are a primary at…

It's true that ads use bandwidth and battery but ad-blockers and web standards implementations built into browsers are not "free" either.

It takes CPU to find and strip out ads, and bandwidth to contact filtering servers or whatever else guides the behavior of blockers (and generally the more blocking you opt in to, the more of this there is). I have seen an astounding drop in Chrome performance when using HTML5 YouTube videos on my laptop, where attempts to scroll and click take seconds to even respond and I haven't yet figured out why.

I would still expect the cost to be less overall without Flash but it would be interesting to measure everything that is really going on and figure out if ads are really the worst offenders.