Msnbc.com’s new look, teased back on June 11, is now live and takes a significantly different approach to news – one we find considerably encouraging. The msnbc story pages now feature all the information “right there” rather than forcing you to jump hoops to get a certain item of information from the story.
Each story has tabs on the right side that link you to different nuggets of information on the page. If, for example, you want to see a story’s timeline, you click on the clock tab, and you’re brought to the correct element on the page. This is a big ol’ “bite me” to the idea of forcing readers to generate pageviews for you.
“The only thing big about our previous pages were the size and number of the gray tease boxes. Why not, we thought, stop teasing and start showing this content?” writes msnbc Creative Director Ashey Wells. Note’s paidContent’s David Kaplan: “the new site … promises to do an end with clicking on stories and on ads. By introducing a single-page-only “format, the company hopes to sell large, customizable ads to marketers as it tries to build a larger audience.
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Ok that's all cool and all… But the killer app? The video plays on my iPad and iPhone. HUGE!
Another WOW: while Steve rightly notes that form overruled pageviews here, I LOVE how ads are neatly intergeates into the vertically scrolling slideshows. About every third image or so is a standard 300×250 ad. It is nicely laid into the content and looks superb. I once likened slideshow traffic to meth here on LR (it pumps you up and makes you feel good for a while until the inevitable crash), but this does a nice job of balancing UX with the need for ad impressions.
There's a lot of stuff on the edges that you have to ting too hard about. Looks like a card table and then the guns leave you really confused/
Many people are still using a 4:3 screen. I consider Blackberry phones are a PITA. A phone is a phone and I will not text a CL seller for a picture. I am that freak that wants a computer at home and peace everywhere else. It was nice to find things by accident.
If NBC could only hang on their own like CBS and ABC without falling into endless partnerships then maybe it would mean more. I'd hate to think the whole enterprise went down the drain after John Chancellor died.