If you visit YouTube on any given day, you鈥檒l be sure to find a recently-published video that鈥檚 been viewed millions of times in mere days.
Or how about ? There, you鈥檒l find the videos with the most view counts in YouTube history 鈥 and the videos that reached one billion views in the shortest amount of time. (Adele鈥檚 鈥淗ello鈥 reigns on top, taking only 88 days to reach this mindboggling view count.)
Where do those views come from? What exactly counts as a 鈥榲iew鈥 and what doesn鈥檛? For those who are curious, or if you鈥檙e a marketer looking to expand your strategy onto a platform with , YouTube has the answer.
Admittedly, YouTube hasn鈥檛 always been the most obvious choice for marketers. Sure, there are guides and explanations, even statistics on how to crack the YouTube code. Yet there鈥檚 still uncertainty about what does and does not count as a view. For a site that鈥檚 no stranger to regular changes, what鈥檚 the baseline?
More than that, there鈥檚 a magic number of views: 300.
Once a video reaches 300 views, YouTube temporarily 鈥渇reezes鈥 the view count to confirm that those are indeed legitimate plays by real humans. Its system begins to track incoming views, as well as the first 300. It can delete fraudulent views as they鈥檙e identified. Once the initial screening process is over, the view counter goes back to normal, but YouTube will continue monitoring for fake views on every video.
Why 300? Numbers below that don鈥檛 have the power to crowd the YouTube homepage and throw the website off its algorithm.
So, wait. If there鈥檚 no secret formula to what counts as a view, can鈥檛 anyone refresh their video to gain views? Not anymore. In the early days of YouTube, monetization wasn鈥檛 a thing. It was an assumption that almost every view fit into the original definition: a viewer-intended play of a spam-free video. It didn't take the platform long to get wise to the fact that creators could cheat the system. This is loosely referred to as an 鈥渁rtificial鈥 view.
Luckily, YouTube has gotten pretty good at spotting artificial views. Some of the signs they look for include:
Software in YouTube鈥檚 security system has the ability to detect malware 鈥 a computer program that assists in sending spam messages from your computer 鈥 and spambots. YouTube automatically deletes them to make the screening process go more smoothly.
Now, let鈥檚 go over some questions you may have about YouTube video views.
Yes, your own views count if you play your own YouTube video 鈥 but only if you do it once or twice, not if you constantly refresh the page.
YouTube鈥檚 algorithm sees you just as it sees any other user, so your view will be counted.
Yes, but only if the replays seem natural. If you replay a video once, it will count as a view. However, if you constantly refresh the page to artificially up the view count, YouTube will pinpoint this as a spamming practice (see the Views, reloaded definition above).
No. YouTube鈥檚 views aren鈥檛 unique; replays and re-visits are counted in the view count. You can see in your YouTube analytics dashboard.
Though YouTube doesn鈥檛 publish this information, we know that it updates views approximately every 24 to 48 hours. It does not update views instantly.
Yes, embedded YouTube video views count when the video is embedded into the content of the page and a user purposefully clicks on the video to play it. An autoplay embed video may not count. A background video (that is, you placed the YouTube video in the background of your website) will not count.
Yes, Facebook views count on YouTube. They don鈥檛 count, however, if you manually download the video from YouTube and upload it to Facebook.
If you鈥檙e thinking of implementing a , it鈥檚 critical to adhere to . If you don鈥檛, your videos will be deleted. Viewership has its own set of guidelines and is taken very seriously.
If a video reaches a certain number of views and falls within the guidelines, it鈥檚 eligible to make money. YouTube鈥檚 account monetization allows a single video to earn thousands of dollars as it creeps into the territory of having millions of views. Accounts that give themselves fake views are, in essence, making money unfairly. YouTube鈥檚 policies here aim to make sure every creator works hard on every video they produce.
That said, algorithms change 鈥 sometimes at the drop of a hat. For the most updated information on proper video protocol, regularly, especially when they announce changes for creators.
Another reason viewership is taken so seriously is users鈥 ability to find videos they鈥檙e interested in. It would be soul-crushing to sift through tons of spam videos in order to get to the one that you want to get to.
All of this talk of algorithms and homepages may seem a little overwhelming, when the main question is actually, 鈥淗ow do I use this stuff to get views?鈥 Don鈥檛 worry, as long as you , you鈥檒l find ways to get people clicking on your content.
It can be a bit tricky to decipher the mechanics of YouTube. But YouTube uses a system that carefully and cleverly monitors viewership so it can deliver the most authentic experience to its creators and users. By counting views before fake views turn into a real problem, YouTube keeps its platform clean from spam.
Knowing how many people view your video is important. You can tell whether your title is compelling, whether your thumbnail is effective, and whether your content is watch-worthy based on views alone. By measuring your YouTube views, you can successfully pivot your strategy to grow your YouTube channel.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.