It will not likely come as a shock to many tech readers that mobile Web browsing is increasing in prevalence and advertisers are looking more toward mobile platforms than they have in the past. It makes sense for advertisers to follow people where they travel the most, and on the Internet, they are traveling more and more by way of their mobile devices. Unfortunately for advertisers, their well-worn tactics of creating dynamic Flash-based content will not always work with mobile, so they are increasingly, albeit slowly, moving toward HTML5 for their dynamic content needs.

Now, one major supplier of advertising integration capabilities, Google (News – Alert), has added the ability for Adwords users to upload HTML5-based advertisements directly into Google Display Network campaigns. In a recent blog post, the company says advertisers can first build their advertisements with Google Web Designer and then send them directly to Web pages that host Display Network content.

Google, further along in its post, explains the necessity for advertisements created with HTML5 in mind.

"People are now constantly connected and using mobile devices to communicate, shop and stay entertained. In fact, 25 percent of global pageviews occur on smartphones and tablets. Further, there are now more consumers using the web in HTML5-compatible environments than in Flash-compatible environments. In order to reach as large an audience as possible, advertisers should build their rich media ads in HTML5," the blog post says.

Also among the functionality of Adwords is its ability to upload Flash files and convert them into HTML5 files. This means that advertisers who were once using Flash advertisements can continue to use their previously-created content and apply it for viewing by a whole new range of devices.

TMC (News – Alert) has previously reported that adoption of mobile advertising has been slow. Clients have not been convinced that mobile advertising is providing a sizable return on investment. As a result, they are sticking with Flash, and with that type of content, they have no chance of reaching anyone who uses, for instance, Apple's Safari browser. This leaves out all iPhone (News – Alert) and iPad users. Understandably, advertisers do not want to lose such a large chunk of the population due to file format roadblocks.

The update Google announced concerning Adwords may help push mobile advertising even further into the mainstream. It has the advantage of accepting Flash files for immediate conversion to HTML5, and it provides increased functionality between Adwords and Google Display Network campaigns. There is a lot to like, but as TMC has noted, old habits sometimes die hard, and it may continue to be difficult to peel people away from the power of Flash.