Google today started to add support for embedded YouTube videos based on HTML5, and not on the traditional Flash platform the company currently uses to power videos.

Users could already embed HTML5 videos, as the company continues to test the platform that many argue is more secure and more efficient than Adobe’s proprietary Flash platform.

One of the most publically critical companies to criticize the Flash platform is Apple, who banned the platform in its popular products, including the iPhone 4 and the iPad tablet computer.

The move by Google today for the first time made embedded videos support HTML5 as part of a wider developer’s release, meaning soon more videos you see embedded on other websites would support the new web language.

Google previously made it clear it would stay with the Flash platform citing various reasons, including support for additional features that Flash offers such as immediate camera and microphone support, and video streaming support, something HTML5 currently does not support.

Furthermore, HTML5 is an emerging technology that even newer Internet browsers do not fully support, and browser makers such as Mozilla and Microsoft are continuing to add updates to their browser builds to add support for emerging standards.

Since not all Internet browsers support the HTML5 standard, Google said HTML5 powered videos would revert to Flash if found that the users browser does not support the standard.

Google in the past said it finds current HTML5 limitations unacceptable given the massive YouTube user base.

YouTube is currently the number one online video sharing website, with over 100-million unique monthly users in the United States alone.

Opponents of Flash, in particular, Apple, will find the Google shift very positive, because it means embedded YouTube videos found across the Internet would now work directly in Apple products, such as in Safari on the iPhone 4 and the iPad.

Additionally, HTML5 continues to be further developed, and could see missing features Flash already supports added in the near future, which could prompt more firms to make the switch to the open-source HTML5 web standard.

Other websites Google owns such as Google Finance currently do not fully work on Apple iOS powered devices since they utilize the Flash platform.

Many iPhone 4 users find this painful, and will even more so in the coming months, as Adobe rolls out Flash support for other smartphones including Android powered devices, and BlackBerry devices.