What Makes People Watch Online Videos

Abstract

Searching for and retrieving videos in a meaningful way on the web is still an open problem. The integration of a user's context and intentions into the search process is one of the most promising approaches to enhance current search interfaces and algorithms. In this article, we present the results of two exploratory studies on the topic of online video searching, retrieving, watching, and sharing: a qualitative study in which 22 participants reported on situations when they retrieved and watched videos, and an online quantitative survey with more than 200 participants answering comparable questions. We provide a detailed analysis of the results from both studies and report on the insights that they provide in terms of video search, retrieval, watching, and sharing behavior. Our findings can be used to enhance current video retrieval systems, search interfaces, and algorithms in order to improve the overall user satisfaction and experience. As an example of such improvements, we also propose a prototype that addresses the problem of taking the user's intentions into account when designing video retrieval interfaces.