YouTube to change view counting method from 24 August 2026
YouTube is changing the way it counts video views on its platform from 24 August 2026.
TechCrunch reported on Monday (17/8) that under the new counting system, a view will be counted as soon as a video starts playing or when someone joins a live stream.
YouTube has never officially explained how it counts views, but viewers and creators generally understood that a view was only counted after a user watched a video for at least 30 seconds.
The change in how views are counted comes about a year after YouTube introduced a similar system for counting views on Shorts.
Competing platforms such as TikTok and Instagram also count views from the moment a video starts playing.
In an announcement on YouTube Community, the company said it has been using various view-counting systems for different formats.
According to the company, the update to how views are counted is intended to remove creator confusion about the metrics used on the platform and make it easier for creators to understand the true reach of their content.
However, the change could actually cause a video’s view count to increase significantly, especially for videos that only manage to hold viewers’ attention for a short time.
This means the view count may not be accurate enough to serve as a benchmark for a video’s popularity.
The metric allows creators to know how many viewers choose to keep watching their videos, rather than simply opening or playing them.
YouTube said the change in how views are counted will not affect creator earnings or the requirements for earning through the YouTube Partner Program.
The change in how views are counted comes just a week after YouTube announced a new policy on the thresholds for creators to start earning from ads and subscriptions.
Starting next year, creators who want to earn from the YouTube platform must have at least 8,000 eligible watch hours in the past year or 20 million eligible Shorts views in the past 90 days.
Currently, the requirement is still 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year, or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views in the past 90 days.