How views on various platforms are counted

- [Narrator] Video views are an important measurement, not only for artists and bands, but record labels, advertisers, and sponsors. A high number of views can lead not only to label and sponsor interest, but also has a snowball effect of more viewers wanting to watch as well. When it comes to monetizing video views though, the problem is that most services like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat all measure what they consider a view differently. Here are four factors that determine a view.

The first one is whether the video autoplays, or was it user initiated. The amount of time spent watching the video also determines if it's a view or not. The amount of video that's on the screen is also important, and whether the video is played in the app or embedded in another site makes a difference on whether it's counted as a view. Let's look at what the qualifications for a view are on some of the popular platforms. Facebook is the most liberal with what it considers a view. If a video is autoplayed for just three seconds and it's 100% on the screen for desktop or 50% for mobile, it's considered a view.

The audio doesn't even have to be on. For Snapchat, as soon as the video is played, even with autoplay, it's considered a view if it's 100% in view and played inside the app. With Instagram, if the video is played for three seconds either in the feed or upon opening a story, and it's 100% in view in the app only, it's considered a view. For Twitter, the video can be autoplayed as long as it's watched for at least three seconds and is 100% in view either on mobile or desktop, then it's considered a view.

This counts across all platforms and embedded posts as well. YouTube is much tougher than any of the above. The video has to be user-initiated and it has to be viewed for an indeterminate percentage of the total video length. For advertisers, it has to be at least 50% in view, that includes all devices, all platforms, and embedded posts. As you can see, not all views are equal and some of the view numbers that you see can be taken with a grain of salt as a result.