The Hitwise recent research examined trends in online news consumption over the past year. According to the grounds one of the most remarkable tendencies over this period of time has been the increase in traffic from News & Media web sites to video ones. The traffic increasing makes up 196 % during the year.

Having said that, it’s important to remember such events like the hanging of Saddam Hussein, the death of crocodile hunter Steve Irwin, the videotaped incident involving former Senator George Allen - these are user-generated online video content. By means of these videos the increase in traffic is relevant, namely, almost 200 percent to multimedia (video) news sites in the past year.

By the way, when video news of sensational character appears, most viewers search it clicking on “non-traditional” news web sites, foretasting a great windfall.

“Search engine results from news video services, video sites like YouTube, and blogs were more likely to contain the information they [viewers] sought, thus hastening the growth of non-traditional news sources,” said LeeAnn Prescott, director of research at Hitwise, in the report.

What’s more, the past year has seen relevant growth in traffic to celebs caught on video like PerezHilton.com, Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith. According to the Hitwise research the market share of the top 20 gossip blogs grew 42 % from November of 2006 to March 2007.

In conclusion, I would say the more user-generated online video content you see the more fresh news you keep abreast of. It is the result of two-way exchange between users online.

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