HTML5 is going to be the standard technology for online video thanks to Apple's insistence that Flash is not to run on its mobile devices. It will be a major shift for ad technologies - a shift that is not being given enough attention by marketers now, say analysts.
It is easy to understand, though, why some companies might dismiss the debate - much of it appears to be political or market-making on the part of Apple. There clearly is an element of that, writes the Economist. Apple does not want apps written on cross-platform programming tools such as Flash because they can then can easily migrate to other smartphone devices.
Benefit Entire Industry
An online video environment built on HTML5, though, may benefit the entire industry - not just Apple. Jobs views Flash as a rat's nest of buggy software that "hogs processor cycles, drains battery life and causes needless crashes," the Economist also noted. Eventually HTML5 will be able to handle audio and video internally, without the need for browser plug-ins such as Adobe’s Flash or Microsoft’s Silverlight and Oracle’s JavaFX, it said.
Unfortunately, right now, it is still a work in progress.
What It Can Do
The emergence of HTML5 may be one of the most major industry shifting changes that has occurred in recent years, says HubSpot. "Unfortunately it is flying under the radar of too many marketers." One of HTML5's biggest impacts on marketers is its native video support, it said. Already CBS, ABC, Vimeo, ESPN have made changes to their sites to support video playback on the iPad, as well as other devices that do not support Flash and other video plugins.
HTML5 also provides marketers with new ways to tell search engines about their content, HubSpot said. "In the past, marketers have used header tags such as "h2" and "h3". In HTML5 a new tag known as the "section" tag will help site owners explain the topic of page sections to search engines.” Another new element is the "nav" tag by which a mobile device browser can make a link.
HTML5's official release has yet to be set - a fact that frustrates marketers ready to deploy it now, or at least ready to have their content render on Apple's mobile devices.
Workarounds
Some companies are pushing forward anyway.
Google is using HTML5 for its web apps, as one example. The most recent feature supported by HTML5 was its drag-and-drop, now a standard part of Gmail, says Web Monkey. A number of third-party companies are building tools that act as workarounds that will let iPad and iPhone users view videos created using Adobe's Flash technology (via MacNewsWorld). Brightcove is one.
Another is RipCode, which just unveiled the TransAct Transcoder V6. It is similar to Brightcove in that it gives Web content producers a way to open up video content to users without having to move to HTML5. TransAct Transcoder V6 works by intercepting a Flash-based file or live video request and converting it to the appropriate code accepted by the iPad - without the need for any pretranscoding or a device-based client, MacNewsWorld explains.
