Just like fast food, we have come to depend on the access of our content and work projects to be on-the-go and available 24-7. However, we not only depend on portability, but we also rely on the ability to simultaneously watch TV while viewing online videos, news articles, while at the same time completing projects and Facebooking on our laptops. We have the option of remaining on our sofas in the living room, but we’re just a bit more active (and nosier) staring at multiple screens and multiple windows. We want video content on demand when we want it, where we want it, and how we choose to receive it. This type of usage, in turn, increases the demand for new video development tools that are useful to a variety of businesses, advertisers, and universities. It has changed the way we meet with one another, share content, and learn information.
According to recent comScore data, US internet users watched nearly 32 billion online videos in March of 2010. YouTube accounted for nearly 40% of all videos viewed online with Hulu and Microsoft Sites ranking far behind in the single-digit percentage range in second and third place. With approximately 120 million videos stored on YouTube at any given time, it would take nearly 600 years to watch each video end-to-end. YouTube video producers strongly depend on the interactive, viral usage of its content for success. Instead of search engines, Twitter referrals actually generate the highest amount of consumer interactivity for online viewing from major broadcast networks and magazine publishers. Mainstream broadcast media still reaches its audiences, but its content has become horizontally integrated reaching multiple sects of the audience through different avenues of reception.
Companies have seen a huge increase in the need for online video to be incorporated into their web marketing strategies. Kaltura, one company totally geared toward creating online video sources, saw an increase in demand for online video marketing solutions: a 17% increase of its total customer base. Here at J House Media, more than half of all clients request imbedded video supplement their web marketing efforts.
Because of the consistent incorporation of online video usage into website design, device and software companies are debating which online video tools and video codec support will best replay produced content for the device in use. The video codec allows the uploading and insertion of digital video and audio files to be compressed or decompressed to best incorporate into one’s website.
Currently, Apple strongly lends its support to the H.264 codec, while Google debates that the VP8 codec will best support video playback on all devices. It is Google’s belief that video compression technology should be part of the Web platform. At the recent I/O conference, Google has deliberately pushed software and hardware industry leaders to get on board with WebM, a format that uses VP8. Because Apple depends on consumer dedication to “all-devices-Apple,” it may be that their support of H.264 works best for Apple products. Needless to say, there is nothing more frustrating than clicking “play” and having your top-of-the-line device of choice freeze, skip, and load until what was supposed to be a two minute process becomes 10 minutes of aggravation. Without continuity, the online viewing process will become less user friendly, leaving less freedom for consumers to move from program to program and switch devices to play clean, streaming video.
Also at this week’s I/O conference, Google announced the advent of Google TV, which now makes it easy to surf channels on the web just like moving from website to website through a standard TV search bar. Google TV will be integrated into television sets, Blu-Ray players, and other TV companion boxes. This type of extreme integration further proves the need for continuity among web video support for multiple devices. More information on the new Google TV platform will be discussed next week.
