Today, we find plenty of instances where clients want us to build websites that are highly dynamic in look, but not in functionality, such as animations that make the simple web pages more attractive.

The first thought that comes to mind when considering the addition of embedded videos, games, interactive graphics, etc., into a website, is the use of Adobe Flash or just “Flash” as it is more popularly known. Flash has been around since 1996, and with their popularity, various facilities and friendly plug-ins, Flash improvements have helped developers worldwide build fantastic websites. However, there are some drawbacks to these  Flash improvements that have caused developers to seek new alternatives. Thankfully, a new alternative has come – HTML5. With its open source platform, easy access with mobile phones and other features, HTML5 has gained tremendous popularity in a short period of time. Interestingly, people have started comparing these two technologies, and we are seeing a great deal of discussion about Flash versus HTML5. (continue reading…)

Led by the iPhone and now other smartphones (and devices such as the iPad), mobile web traffic is increasing exponentially and many expect it to surpass desktop web usage in the near future. So what does that mean for web site designers and advertisers?

For one, Flash is still out of the picture. Apple, especially, has steadfastly refused to embrace Flash for their iPod (and iPad) platform. Even Google’s Android (currently) does not support it. So, every web site and banner ad based on Flash is basically unreadable by smartphone browsers. If you’re not taking this into account in your internet marketing efforts, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

How about other rich media advertising platforms? Whatever technology you use, it behooves you to test it on the iPhone and other popular smartphones. For example, for almost a year now, PointRoll now offers distribution of its rich-media ads on the iPhone. Microsoft, similarly, has recently demonstrated streaming Silverlight videos on the iPhone.

Over the course of 2010 there will be many new announcements of mobile web technologies and platforms, but between now and when those are adopted, we as marketers need to understand who is visiting our target sites and distribute our content accordingly. Otherwise, a good portion of our intended audience will be excluded for no reason other than our inattention.

Domus, Inc. is an advertising agency, PR agency, and digital media agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.