Flashplayer?

I just downloaded some updates from Microsoft. 5 to be exact. The 6th was for Flashplayer and I guess I don't have Flashplayer. What is it for and do I need it?

 

"Flash plays small, fast multimedia buttons, as well as interactive animations, flying logos, and graphics created in Macromedia Flash. This player is very small, takes only a short time to download, and is a great starting point for experiencing multimedia on the Web. Flash also supports high-fidelity MP3 streaming audio, text entry fields, interactive interfaces, and more. All Flash formats can be viewed with this latest release.
Flash Player is practically an Internet standard when it comes to viewing multimedia content on the Web. Animations and graphics created for the player are often engaging and well executed. The new features in the Flash 6.0 format promise to make these multimedia experiences more exciting than ever."

from http://www.soft32.com/download_500.html regarding Adobe (Macromedia) Flash Player

 

If you never used Flash before, then you can call it adware, which slows down webpages.
Flash is mostly used for ADs, so a webpage can load slower and you will be forced to watch it.