With its mobile traffic quickly growing, CBS-owned technology news Web service CNet recently introduced a redesigned mobile Web site that takes its inspiration from applications.

Built using HTML5 technology, the new mobile site works like an application, with navigation that it similar to popular mobile apps such as Facebook. Recognizing that there is limited space on mobile phone screens and that it can be frustrating for users to navigate mobile sites, CNet also tried to simplify the layout of the mobile site.

?The new site allows for users to browse the depth and breadth of CNET content, from news, reviews, videos & photo galleries,? said Franco Ruggeri, director of mobile at CNet, San Francisco. ?It is built on the latest HTML5 standards and delivered through a cloud infrastructure.

?CNET is adopting a mobile-first strategy and will be innovating in the space of mobile consumption, both on mobile Web and apps,? he said.

Swipe here
The redesigned site features navigation that enables users to swipe left or right to browse a selection of top stories that have been curated for them.

Users can also swipe left or right to change the photos in any slideshows appearing on the site.

The navigation is similar to what is used by mobile apps such as Facebook, which means it should be familiar to mobile users.

While publishers are increasingly embracing HTML5-based solutions to bring content to readers for a variety of reasons, one of the main reasons is that Apple is charging publishers a 30 percent commission for subscriptions and other sales through apps on the Apple Store.

HTML5 enables publishers to offer readers an app-like experience and, because it is Web-based, they do not have to pay Apple a cut of sales.

Some of the other publishers that are offering HTML5 sites include The Financial Times? FT.com, Playboy and Rolling Stone.

However, publishers are also finding that HTML5 may not be the best choice when it comes to having a tablet presence.

For example, the Daily decided to not use HTML5 for the iPad because it does not perform as a fast as a native app does.

Mobile traffic growing
CNet says it is making the enhancements to its mobile site to address the growing traffic it is seeing from mobile.

Additional enhancements to the CNet mobile site include article pages that have been redesigned to be clean, easy to read and feature standard sharing navigation at the upper right.

From the front page of the site, users can scan a list of the most recent stories at CNet by scrolling down.

To read more, users can click ?more? at the bottom. If they still do not see what they are looking for, they can hit the navigation button at the upper left to open up a list of options.

Users can also try the site search at the top of the navigation drawer or tap the filter icon in the upper right and choose which type of content they would like to see.

?Users have been increasing their consumption of CNET content on mobile devices increasingly over the past 18 months, and it is a significant portion of our overall traffic,? Mr. Ruggeri said.