There was a time when web-based ads were ruled by Flash. Such a time, however, has come to an end, as Google has announced that the arms of its advertising business, Google Display Network and DoubleClick Digital Marketing, would stop accepting advertisements in the aged format starting in June this year. The tech giant aims to ban Flash-based ads altogether by the start of 2017, according to Business ETC News.

The announcement marks another fateful nail that has been driven into Flash's proverbial coffin.

Instead of using Flash, Google suggested that ad developers should use HTML5 instead, which is far more secure and in line with today's technologies.

"To enhance the browsing experience for more people on more devices, the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Digital Marketing are now going 100% HTML5," Google said in a statement, according to The Guardian.

For the time being, however, video ads would still be able to use Flash. After all, a significant number of video players are still heavily reliant on the old platform to display content.

The leeway for video ads, however, is temporary, as Google has stated that it would be providing advertisers the necessary tools in order to properly migrate all future ads to HTML5, reported Tech Spot.

The tech giant's war on Flash has been going on for a while now. Just last year, the company's Chrome browser, arguably the most popular browser in the Internet, was updated to automatically block Flash content by default.

As for Flash, one thing seems to be certain - its era is already at a definitive end.

Check out more World News here.