Flash Animation Intros....UGH

Flash animation intros used to be the cool thing to do - back in the early 1990s when the Internet was invented. You'd see them everywhere, on sites from a law practice to a musical group. And, even though you'd see them everywhere, you still watched them until the very end because they were new and cool.

Times are different now. It's over a decade later, and the Internet has changed a bit. Everyone's using it, and they're not as patient as they used to be. Hungry for information, today's Internet user doesn't have time to sit and wait for Flash animation to load - especially a lame slide show that drags on for 30+ seconds and tells you nothing important. It's even worse if it's not programmed with a cookie and you have to be subjected to it EVERY time you come to a site.

I'm seeing too many of these lately, and as an Internet user (not a marketer) I'm sick of it. I started to wonder how many people in the year 2007 are watching Flash intro animations, and how many are hastily hitting the "skip intro" button. I did a little bit of secondary consumer research and found that Flash intro animations are among the top things that consumers hate most about Web sites. Another source says that the "skip intro" button may just be the most clicked button on the entire Internet.

So why are they still being used? WHY? My guess is that they're done by Internet chop shops that love to do these intricate designs to make some money. They're certainly not doing what's in their clients' best interest by making a site that will actually work. What they've created is one annoying Web site. Yuck.





I think as consumers, we should take a stand. I encourage you to send an email to the Webmaster or the management of the next Web site you see with an animated intro telling them just how annoyed you are by their flagrant use of Flash. Better yet, copy and past the URL of this blog into the email, and let this blog do the talking for you. It'll save you some time. And I KNOW how important your time is.

Thanks for reading,

Garret Ohm