The New CNBC.com

Filed in archive Finance on December 4, 2006

CNBC has relaunched its Web site, after basically taking a hiatus from it altogether, and it's obvious they've put a lot of thought into it. I took it for a little spin today, and here are some impressions:

First I should say that I can be prone to sensory overload. If you've ever heard that men prefer to shop when there are only a few choices versus being overwhelmed with many options, I'm one of those men.

My first impression of CNBC is that it overwhelms me. I'm not really sure where to start, with headlines, video, markets, moving ads, blogs and more all crammed on to the home page. I'd like a little white space. When I scroll down on the home page, it also gets sort of delayed in my browser, as if I'm dragging the whole page around. This is hard to describe unless you see it for yourself, but it always drives me crazy when Web sites are like this. My guess is that it has something to do with the technology of bringing in all these feeds of different content that are constantly updated.

That said, if you're a financial junkie, you will like it. I expect that anyone who is or has ever been a day trader will find CNBC.com to be financial nirvana. It's like financial Mountain Dew, coursing through your veins and getting that blood pumping, pumping, pumping. Every five minutes throughout the trading day there is some sort of live video to watch, both Internet-only video and video from the broadcast channel, as well as the expected company headlines, charts, info on guests who will be appearing on CNBC TV, and more. There are 7 different blogs focused on different business industries, and these look promising, although too new to tell of course.

For me the site is an assault on the senses, but if you are a finance junkie you should definitely check it out and see if it's your speed. It's gotten quite a few other reviews and mentions today, so be sure to check out these as well:

Lost Remote: New CNBC.com Debuts with Major Video Push

TechCrunch: CNBC Relaunches, Heavy Focus on Video

DealBreaker: CNBC Launch Day Extravaganza: The Videos!