How Does YouTube Determine View Count?
In the world of broadcasting, ratings are the metric by which television shows live and die. While the consequences don't have to be quite as extreme for YouTube videos, knowing how many views your videos have can be a helpful tool in determining which types of videos you choose to do in the future. Additionally, video views often signal to a viewer how popular other users found your video to be -- and whether it's worth their time to watch it. As such, it's important to get a handle on how video views are determined.
Other People Are Reading
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The Official Word
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According to YouTube, view count is determined, as its name implies, by the number of times a particular video is watched on YouTube. Typically, the view count is updated automatically. According to YouTube, the platform keeps its actual method of tabulation under wraps to prevent people from finding ways to beat the system.
Gaming the System
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In the early days of YouTube, any time a video was loaded, it counted as a "view." But that meant that people could "game" the system and continually click a video to make it look like more people had viewed it than really had. According to YouTube, the platform now uses "sophisticated technology to count views consistently." If you try to increase your views artificially, YouTube will likely detect that action and take steps to alter your view count. One thing that may happen: Your views will be frozen altogether.
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A Common Problem
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Even if you're not trying to artificially alter the number of views a particular video is getting, you may encounter a problem with your video when it hits about 300 views. According to YouTube, when a video starts getting popular quickly, the system's computers take some time to recalibrate the actual views. This can lead to a "freeze" at around 300 views. The problem is often resolved within a few hours to a few days.
Looking Further
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View count can be a helpful tool for the owner of a video to see how many people have seen the video, but there are other ways to keep track of your view count and gain more information as well. From your "My Videos" page, click on the "Insights" button adjacent to any of your videos. This will take you to your "Views Report," offering information about the locations people are coming from, how many views your video got on an individual day and other helpful information about the popularity of your video.
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References
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