Last month Adobe released their latest Flash Player Version Penetration numbers. Check out how far Flash 9 has come along:
Our latest numbers tell a similar story (as they have since we began cross-referencing):
- 94% - Flash 9+
- 97% - Flash 8+
- 97% - Flash 7+
We like to keep a close tab on these numbers for two reasons:
- keep our clients up to date on the latest numbers, so they can feel comfortable using the latest technologies available
- compare and verify our internal reporting numbers against Adobe’s
So, with Flash 9 hovering around 94-96% — why are you still publishing for anything less? Flash 10 was showcased at MAX in the Fall and is about to be released in beta, but I still hear from agencies who are saying they have to publish for 7 (and even a few that say they are still publishing for 6 - eek!?!). Let’s look at the two main concerns I hear from folks who are stuck in yesteryear:
- The site requires Flash 6/7/8 - EyeWonder has a fantastic group of folks that are constantly working with our publishing site partners to ensure we have the latest specifications and helping educate the sites’ ad ops teams on the latest and greatest of the technology we use. There is not a single site in our massive publisher network, where we cannot run your Flash 9 creative.
- My client requires Flash 6/7/8 - This can be a little trickier, but we are happy to provide you our latest internal numbers (see above) to show them what the penetration of Flash 9 is compared to their preferred player version. Of course, if they are kicking it old school with a Flash 6 player it may be time for an intervention and an upgrade (just kidding, well kind of). Oftentimes I have seen the push for an upgrade come from the agency’s novel concept that requires the use of the latest and greatest Flash player…plus it doesn’t hurt that sites like at least two of the top 10 websites (YouTube and MySpace) require Flash 9.
Most of you know this, but when a user has an older version of the Flash player than what the EyeWonder creative was published for, they will receive an alternate or failover ad. For those ~5% of users, most of the time this is a JPG or GIF, but sometimes we will serve a standard SWF. EyeWonder’s technology works on more browsers and operating system configuration than any other rich media provider I have seen, which is a testament to our development team and our quality assurance department.
Since CS3 shipped in May, we have seen some fantastic executions taking advantage of Flash 9’s features, several of which have been highlighted here and in our monthly newsletter. So with part of 2008 already behind us, what are you waiting for?
When you do come up with something especially cool, let me know and also be sure to submit it to our EyeWonder Creative Awards.
