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The Wild West atmosphere of online video has settled down greatly, but it's about 18 months away from a point where the demand for better measurement of video viewing reaches critical mass. Although Robert Seidman's TVbytheNumbers looks at television and comments on such events as the Bill O'Reilly versus Keith Olbermann dramatics, it won't be long before online video measurements reach a point before they merit similar attention.

We talked to Seidman about his site, and the panel of tech savvy people he featured discussing online video.

People like Ted Leonsis and Mark Cuban cited some of the challenges associated with coming to grips with Internet videos and their viewership:

Ted Leonsis: Measurement of any new medium is difficult, but it is especially so in a hyper-growth market like internet video. Internet video has a variety of challenges when it comes to measurement, the biggest of which is measuring the relative value of one video over another. Mark Cuban: Defining unique users and getting streamers to release information to 3rd parties. It’s not hard to do, but they realize that if they get fully audited a lot of published numbers are going to decline.

Quantcast CEO Konrad Feldman made an interesting point about online video, advertising, and longevity:

Konrad Feldman: Videos can become extremely popular overnight (for example Funny or Die’s ‘The Landlord’) and then flame out within a few days. While each video may represent a terrific advertising platform, real time speed and resolution are required if advertisers and publishers are to capitalize on such transient popularity.

In chatting with Seidman, the topic of short- versus long-form videos arose. We asked what the difference is between the two. It appears there isn't a fixed answer to this; Seidman considers anything under three minutes to be typical viewing, but being over three minutes isn't necessarily long-form.

Seidman feels the entire online video experience needs work. "There's too many clicks to get to content," he said. "No one's built a good TV-like experience."

We would suggest the decade-long failure of the telecom industry to deliver on the promises of the Telecommunications Act has a lot to do with that experience. It could mean better video ad measuring tools will arrive before better video does for Internet watchers.