How YouTube count video views is a frequent question among users. Is making click enough, or should I watch the whole video? If I play the same video twice in the same computer, does it count as two views? Here we will answer those questions and many others regarding the YouTube counter.
First of all it should be said that YouTube’s official help information does not say much about this, because knowing how the view stats are counted would make easier to distort the numbers for anyone interested in making a YouTube video look more popular than it really is. That is why the information we provide below does not come from YouTube’s official communications, just from experimentation.
It is also important to remember that YouTube allows channel owners to earn money by putting banners and video ads when using Google AdSense. In that case, adding fake views is considered fraud.
Ok, so… How does YouTube count views?
When it comes to watching a YouTube video, it is not enough with clicking for the counter to register our visit, but it is not necessary to watch the entire video. Visits are counted after 5 seconds of playing.
If we watch the same video several times, only one view will be counted, because the cookies in our computer or device will consider us the same user. After 30 minutes, the information in the cookie will be erased, a new session will start, and then a new view will be counted.
If the same user has watched the same video multiple times and his views did count, the reason could be that he deleted his cookies or he changed browser.
Playing embed YouTube videos
When a YouTube video is embed in another website, the views could or not be counted, depending on several factors. By default, YouTube will not count any view that has been placed as a result of the autoplay feature. That means that if we configured our video to play automatically every time the web page is loaded, no view will be counted.
In addition to avoid autoplay, there is another condition that we should keep in mind to make views count: the software that we use to play the video should be the one from YouTube. If we use a different one, none of the views will count.
Detecting fake views
If you are a frequent YouTube user, you have already probably noticed that once a video reaches about 300 plays, the counter freezes and no new views are counted. That is because after that quantity, view stats are under a YouTube verification process that could take half a day or more. It is an automatic preventive process to prevent people from artificially trying to increase the number of views by watching the same video several times.
Instead of trying to manually increase the views, a good alternative is to buy YouTube views in large quantities. Buying views improves the ranking of our videos on YouTube and Google search results, increasing the reach of our contents. Also, visitors are more likely to interact with videos that look very popular or viral. The prices for buying YouTube views are very affordable: 10,000 views can be purchased for only $40. To learn more visit Buy YouTube views.
Hi, I constantly check the video statistics and the number of views, from the many videos I watch, over a period of many months. Noticed something different all of a sudden. The Video Statistics box in lower left suddenly has way higher number than the Number of Views at right, sometimes over a thousand. Why would the number of views all of a sudden be lower than video statistics?
Hello! The finalized stats data is usually 2 days behind. It takes some time for verification and processing. So unless your videos aren’t getting any traffic for several days, the view numbers displayed on the video’s watch page and the numbers displayed for the video in the stats area will never match.
Hi! What if I watch the same video several times from an incognito window. Do those views count?
Hi! The first views will count, but if you keep doing it YouTube is going to detect it as suspicious behaviour and delete the extra views. I wouldn’t recommend doing it to the purpose of affecting the counter.
Hello, I’m really sorry for bothering you but I have a question and I hope you have the answer, my daughter has a a YouTube channel, and I shared her channel in her daycare so they play her videos in different devices everyday but they are using only one router, is for YouTube will show only 1 IP address or different for each device? And sorry again for bothering you.
Hi! YouTube analytics don’t store IP addresses. The views will be only recognised as coming from the same user if the video is being watched from different devices with the same YouTube account being logged in.
If I watch my own YouTube video does it count views the same way it does for everyone else or are no views added because it’s my own video?
Hi! Your own views will be counted to certain extent. If you’re logged in, YouTube can easily recognise that it’s you who is watching the video and if you watch the video too many times not all the views will be considered.
How many tabs are safe to open with no gmail account logged in and with one browser (at the same time)? Considering different videos being played.
Hi! We wouldn’t recommend any attempt to increase the number of views artificially by opening several different tabs. YouTube continuously improves their controls to detect that kind of behaviour.
Hi can I share my channel link in another videos comments?
Hi! It’s possible but I’d recommend you only do it if your channel is thematically related and relevant to the content of the video. Otherwise you could be reported.
What if I created more gmail accounts and use each as a view everyday?
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend that. That’s a clear pattern, so it could be detected by YouTube.