It didn't take a Jakob Nielsen study to convince me. The latest Alertbox points out all the problems with the current trend of taking standard television content and leaving it in the standard television wrapper when putting it online.

The tricky part about Web video these days is everyone wants a player they can use to wrap ads around the actual video. Now if your point of the video is to lure people in to sell a product, maybe all the distractions Nielsen points out are a good thing. While people are listening to the audio from the video, they are looking at the ads or accompanying text on the side. I know I don't need to see the talking head on the news to get the news, which is why I often get my audible news from NPR or BBC radio. One of the best points Nielsen makes is getting rid of all that junk they wrap around the talking heads on TV and keeping the video focused and succinct. Or maybe we like the distraction. I know if I have CNN on television, I'm listening to the audio and reading the ticker with no regard for the person delivering the audio.

If the important piece is getting people to pay attention to your video, take the distractions away. Offer it as a subscription. Pay for the video with a 7 second commercial on the front and back. Give your video to me in a format I can take anywhere. Let me watch when I want where I want and I'll likely come back for more.

It didn't take a Jakob Nielsen study to convince me. The latest Alertbox points out all the problems with the current trend of taking standard television content and leaving it in the standard television wrapper when putting it online.

The tricky part about Web video these days is everyone wants a player they can use to wrap ads around the actual video. Now if your point of the video is to lure people in to sell a product, maybe all the distractions Nielsen points out are a good thing. While people are listening to the audio from the video, they are looking at the ads or accompanying text on the side. I know I don't need to see the talking head on the news to get the news, which is why I often get my audible news from NPR or BBC radio. One of the best points Nielsen makes is getting rid of all that junk they wrap around the talking heads on TV and keeping the video focused and succinct. Or maybe we like the distraction. I know if I have CNN on television, I'm listening to the audio and reading the ticker with no regard for the person delivering the audio.

If the important piece is getting people to pay attention to your video, take the distractions away. Offer it as a subscription. Pay for the video with a 7 second commercial on the front and back. Give your video to me in a format I can take anywhere. Let me watch when I want where I want and I'll likely come back for more.