YouTube has made a massive update to what counts as a “view,” but it won’t earn creators more money from the platform.
On March 31, YouTube rolled out a change to Shorts that will make views similar to how they’re counted on rival platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Now, when users scroll past a Short, even if it’s after a second, it’ll still count as a “view.” This will also count for the number of times a Short is replayed instead of counting only after a user watches for a little.
The platform says this change will help give creators a “more complete view of how their short videos are doing,” but it won’t actually result in more money being earned, at least from YouTube itself.
YouTube Short change will result in way more views
According to YouTube, the previous method for calculating views isn’t going anywhere. Instead, the metric will be called “Engaged views.”
In order to see those numbers, creators will need to go into Analytics and click on Advanced Mode so you can see how many viewers keep watching the content.
“This change will not directly impact the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) eligibility and Shorts ad revenue sharing. They will both be based on ‘Engaged views,’” YouTube explained. “So creators’ eligibility and earnings will not change.”
While this may not earn creators more per se, YouTube hopes this update will “better represent your work to potential brand or agency partners, and give you a fuller picture of your overall reach if you’re posting on multiple platforms!”
Basically, YouTube is making Shorts more in line with how views on Instagram and TikTok are calculated, which will inflate the numbers a bit from where they were previously.
YouTube further stated that they made this change after community feedback requesting that Shorts display how often they’re seen overall.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.