YouTube is making moves to get online video aficionados to watch more videos — wherever they are. YouTube has revamped its mobile web site and introduced Leanback viewing on the desktop in a bid to make its site more sticky.
YouTube is pointing to the mobile Internet’s rapid growth. According to a recent Morgan Stanley report, more users will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years. Internal data from Google, YouTube’s parent, also reveals people are watching more YouTube videos from mobile devices — playbacks rose 160 percent in 2009. In total, YouTube Mobile sees more than 100 million video playbacks every day.
The new and improved M.YouTube.com is faster and comes with a user interface that offers larger, more touch-friendly elements. The new mobile YouTube also mirrors features and functions from the .com site, including search query suggestions, playlist creations, and the chance to favorite, like or unlike videos from a smartphone. The new site works with iPhone and Android browsers.
Demonstrating HTML5 Power
“With the mobile YouTube site, Google is drawing attention to how important and how powerful the HTML5 standard is and what it can do. This plays nicely into the argument Apple has been having with Flash,” said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis. “Plus, you have limited access to the videos on YouTube with the native app, and some of those videos are streamed for low bandwidth even if you have high bandwidth, which is ridiculous.”
Shimmin notes that Google is and always has been about the browser. The YouTube mobile site gives the search giant an opportunity to show that native applications are not always the best solution. With HTML5, he said, companies have instant portability and IT administrators don’t have to worry about how to get users to download and install…