TC50: FluidHtml builds a more web-friendly version of Flash

Adobe’s Flash is a popular format for web developers because it allows companies to build pretty, interactive web apps, but it also comes with plenty of headaches. A startup called FluidHtml, launching at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco today, announced a new web markup language, also called FluidHtml, which it promises has the richness of Flash while eliminating disadvantages.

Basically, FluidHtml says that Flash “doesn’t work the way the rest of the Internet works,” and it wants to change that.

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For one thing, Adobe and Google say they’ve made Flash apps searchable by search engines, but FluidHtml says that support is so limited it’s “meaningless.” FluidHtml, meanwhile, says it makes Flash content completely searchable. Flash also limits the possibilities for search engine marketing, because it limits the amount of linking you can do to pages within the apps — again, FluidHtml allows that. Finally, FluidHtml says it renders Flash content dynamically, more like standard web content, rather than Flash.

FluidHtml plans to make money by charging publishers of web apps using the markup language. It’s already being tested out by art auction firm Sotheby’s.

Click here for more startup news coming out of the TechCrunch50 conference today.