• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 1, 2015

In response to the growing backlash from Adobe Flash and the spread of malvertising across major portals like MSN and Yahoo, Google has announced a series of new features and strategies to assist web developers build and support HTML5 ads.

Google began freezing blocking Flash-based Web ads in its Chrome browser Sept. 1.

The tools and features aim to help advertisers make the transition from Flash to HTML5, a markup language that includes video now supported in the browser. It also allows search engines more easily to serve video alongside search ads.

One of the major issues around Flash technology has been the growing concern about malvertising -- which continues to spread not just on mobile, but desktop. In the latest support for HTML5 to protect advertisers and consumers, Google includes ways to build content that will adapt to various screen sizes, publish in-app ads to the AdMob network, and design better creative advertisements.

Earlier this summer, Google hosted a series of online classes to educate Web developers looking to make the transition from Flash to HTML5. The company also partnered with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to launch the second wave of the Make Mobile Work Initiative, aimed at educating marketers on how to build successful mobile campaigns.

The IAB Tech Lab in August asked for public comment on its IAB Display Creative Guidelines. The updates were developed by the IAB Display Creative Working Group, in response to the benefits of HTML5 technology. The IAB expects to release the guidelines this fall following public comment, which runs through Sept. 18.

Ad injectors have also affected Google's Chrome browser. In April, Google released a study in which University of California Berkeley researchers found more than 5% of Google site visitors have at least one ad injector installed. Of those, half have at least two injectors installed, and nearly one-third have at least four installed.