AOL UnCut Autoplay Annoyance

Following a wave of social video services, AOL is readying its me-too entry: UnCut. Expect an announcement next week.

I don't like the five-minute length cap. Traditional online service that it is, AOL is clearly paranoid about copyright to the point of stifling creativity.

I definitely don't like the fact that UnCut's embedded player autoplays. That's interruption marketing -- you know, the kind Seth Godin says is dead. That's also an annoyance YouTube avoids. Anyone who embeds multiple videos on a single page using UnCut, is just asking discerning readers to go away.

The service is powered by VideoEgg, which also powers MySpace videos. Yes, it's a big boy using big-boy thinking, hiring a startup to copy a bigger startup.