Autoplay

Does anyone know if there is a way to make an embedded wellcomemat video autoplay?

Anthony,

We just had this request from another WellcomeMat video pro and this one keeps surfacing periodically. Here is the state of the union on autoplay for EMBEDDED players. Please note that you can link people to a video that will autoplay on WellcomeMat. This is the exact message that I sent to the last person to request this feature:

"We are meeting some resistance from our dev team to the auto-play feature implementation for embedded videos. Specifically, it is being explained that it is bad security practice to force actions within an end users' browser.

Just wanted you to know that we did push it on this side, but the team is torn in regards to making it happen. The saga continues....but in thinking back to my own experiences, I am not able to say that I looked upon auto-play situations as a positive thing. And, industry-wide, our development team's concerns seem to be validated in the way that most sites have taken the same stance.

Sorry! I know this is not good news for you, but I wanted you to know that we have seriously considered doing this update and will continue to review it."

 Christian,

Thanks for the FAST response!  It's good to know it is something you are discussing.  And I can understand the dev team's response.  I think it would be a great option to have, it doesn't have to default to the standard...

Thank You!

 Anthony,

FYI, I am REALLY happy wellcomemat videos do not autoplay, as it can be troublesome. For example, I have posted several videos for a client on her blog. She likes to have several blog entries visible.  If the videos started on their own, they'd all play at once -- Yikes! I'm happy the default is to not autoplay.

Shelley

 Shelley,

I couldn't agree with you more.  I think the autoplay should be an optional feature that is enabled or disabled. Something that is done prior to receiving the embed code.  For example, if a client has a Featured Home webpage and would like the video embedded at top of the page and wants it to autoplay, I think that would be a good idea.  I could imagine the nightmare of having multiple videos autoplaying on a blog... geeesh!  :-)

Anthony

Glad to see everyone understands the pros and cons. It's an ongoing discussion that we are willing to have. We used to have autoplay on WellcomeMat and we dealt with more issues than it was worth:

-We'd go to certain pages on a consistent basis and it annoyed all of us to no end. Videos would start and we had a very practical purpose for arriving to that page.

-We had people telling us that it could be looked at as a way to inflate reporting numbers

In general, it was a can of worms that we are hesitant to revisit: but WellcomeMat is a member/customer/partner driven site, so we'll just keep listening and see if minds change over time.

 The biggest reason for me is on tour pages for the MLS... I wouldn't want it for any other purpose because I think it is irritating....

Does anyone know if an autoplay video loads at the same speed or does it take longer?  If it takes longer, then I'd probably change my mind on that.  I've had a couple realtors ask me if I can do that, and I've said no, but they would love to have that option.  BTW: I definitely agree on the inflated view counts.  I wonder if the realtors want autoplay so their tracking will look better for clients, ex.: "oh Susy, no worries!  Your video has had over 6,000 views this month...." etc.  Not such a big deal for me because I have analytics on the page itself, and I know how long people are staying on that page.

 Thanks Dustin, you reminded me of something else... Does anyone know if the wellcomemat video buffers? if so how much or how long? I never have a problem with loading but 1 client, hi-speed cable modem, not wifi, seems to constantly have loading problems and WellcomeMat has seemed to be the answer for him.

Yes, the video buffers, but it doesn't show the status of the buffer in the play-bar like Youtube or others.  I've noticed it does tend to load faster than Youtube though (at least lately).  Funny thing: when I switched to Comcast Cable, WM videos load faster, but Youtube still loads the same speed... I think the Youtube servers are overworked for the amount of traffic they're getting.  Who knows....?  I'm drawing at straws now... haha

In web circles, it's always been known that it's bad form to have ANYTHING auto play.  Music, videos, etc.

1)  Most people surf at work.  They're not SUPPOSED to be doing that, so if something starts playing loudly without notice, they'll often times shut down their browser ASAP as to not get caught... and of course they probably won't return (or remember) your site at a later time.

2)  If people are surfing while they're talking on the phone, and music begins blaring without notice, it's unprofessional, and the same response usually happens.  This has happened to me MANY times.  It's annoying to say the least.  I actually wrote a note to someone once because I was on a very important call and a VERY loud video began playing as I was surfing on the net during the call....   I was NOT happy.  I couldn't shut it down fast enough.

It's NOT a good idea.

Re: loud music or noise starting unexpectedly when surfing the net:

People at work or on the phone always have their sound turned off for this exact reason.  In fact, that is why as a videographer I don't really view the music or narration as critically important (though it should certainly be good quality for those who do listen to it).  I assume that 3/4 of the people viewing a real estate video have the sound off on their computer.

 Fred, 

Thats a good point. Thank You! Since the auto play "feature" is not an option I need to be able to have good examples of why it is not and even though "surfing at work" isn't legitimately the reason it's not offered its good to know why the "industry" tends to shy away from it.