Video Publishing Platforms - It’s About the User
Posted on September 23, 2008
Lately there has been a lot of news in the consumer video portal space that reminds me of the importance of treating your users well.
Joost - a well financed, must hyped service, that initially forced users to download a P2P client to view video has finally announced a web-only version. I don’t know why this took so long, but Joost finally realized that users had no incentive to download a P2P client to watch video when they can go to other places like Hulu and skip the extra download. Joose now gives users the option of installing a lighter weight browser plug-in to watch HD and live video, or they can watch lower quality video without bothering with a plug-in.
Veoh - another consumer video service has announced they are replacing their high quality video download, VeohTV, with a lighter weight browser plug-in.
Meanwhile, Hulu isn’t sitting still, and they are adding improved navigation and search functionality.
What does this mean for publishers who want to create their own branded video experience on their own websites?
1. This is a fast moving market and the competition is itense. These consumer video portals are both potential distribution channels AND competiton for your audience and video advertising revenue. Publishers will need to continue to ensure their video features keep up with the pace of the market. You may have a decent homegrown system in-place today, but are you investing enough resources in it to keep it from looking obsolete in 6 months? If you are using one of the industry’s existing video legacy platforms, how quickly are they updating their service with cutting edge functionality?
2. User experience is critical. Forcing users to jump through hoops in order to watch your content is rarely a winning proposition for the majority of publishers. Very little content, with the exception of primetime hit shows like Grey’s Anatomy, offer enough value to convince users to download and install additional software. For the vast majority of publishers providing high quality video (e.g. H.264, connection sensing, variable bit-rate deliver) without an extra download will be critical.
Alex
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