A page embeds legacy plugin content
In the reportPages embed plugin content no browser supports
unsupported_plugin_content · Review item
This appears when an indexable page embeds content that needs Flash, Java or Silverlight, through <object>, <embed> or <applet>. Google Search ignores Flash content, and major browsers have turned Flash off. Replace such content with HTML5, such as video, images or JavaScript.
Severity: Notice. The content most likely does not work for visitors, but the check does not test it.
Why it matters
Google's 2019 post on Flash says Chrome, Edge and Firefox disable Flash by default, that Google Search ignores Flash content in web pages, and that it stopped indexing standalone SWF files. Its 2014 post already noted that Flash did not work on many mobile devices and pointed to HTML5, which all devices support.
What to do
- Look at the finding: it lists each element, its type and the plugin it needs.
- Replace videos with
<video>, animations with HTML, CSS or JavaScript, and games or tools with a current version. - Remove embeds that have no replacement, together with any text that points to them.
When to leave it as it is: if the page is an archive kept on purpose, and a note tells visitors the content no longer plays, you can leave it.
What we read
We read the <object>, <embed> and <applet> elements in each crawled indexable page's HTML as served, without fetching what they embed; elements inside <template>, <noscript> or an iframe are skipped.
A page is reported when it has an <applet>, an <object> or <embed> whose type names Flash, Java or Silverlight, or an <object> whose classid is the Flash or Java identifier. A file named only by its extension, such as movie.swf without a type, is not recognised.
Pages with noindex or a canonical to another page are left out. A page is marked as not checked when its HTML could not be read in full, for example because it contains unsupported SVG markup or <select>.
Example & evidence
Illustrative example — one embedded element, not a live audit.
https://bakery.example/tour/ has:
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="/media/tour.swf" width="640" height="360"></object>The object needs Flash, so the page is reported with the element.
<video src="/media/tour.mp4" width="640" height="360" controls></video>A possible correction: the same tour as a video.
Confirm & check again
Check for yourself: open the page in your browser: content that needs a plugin shows an empty box or a message instead.
Check again: Full audit — run a new audit of the site. The finding closes when the page is crawled again and has no such element, or is no longer indexable. A page that can no longer be read in full, for example because the replacement contains unsupported SVG markup, keeps the finding open, as does one that answers 404 or is not crawled again.
Limits & sources
Only the declared type, the identifier or an <applet> counts: the check does not test browsers or fetch the plugin file, and embeds added by JavaScript are not seen.
Confidence: High because the elements and their types are read directly.
Sources
- Google, Goodbye, Flash — says Flash is disabled by default in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, that Google Search ignores Flash content in web pages, and that it stopped indexing standalone SWF files. Checked 29 September 2026.
- Google, Promoting modern websites for modern devices in Google search results — noted in 2014 that Flash was not supported on iOS or on Android 4.1 and later, and pointed to HTML5; Google marks the post as possibly outdated. Checked 28 September 2026.
Editorial review: 29 September 2026