YouTube Is Changing How It Counts Shorts Views
Big news if you’re creating YouTube Shorts: YouTube is switching up how it counts views. The goal? To make things less confusing. The result? Well… that’s up for debate.
What’s Changing?
Starting March 31st, Shorts views will now include every time a Short starts playing or replays. If it’s on screen and running, it’s a view. Simple, right? But also, is it really a good measure of engagement?
Before, YouTube had a more complex (and vague) way of measuring Shorts views, factoring in things like watch time and user interactions. The idea was to prevent people from gaming the system. Their explanation last year basically boiled down to:
“We want views to reflect intent, not just exposure. Factors like tapping, time spent watching, and how the video appears in the feed all play a role.”
Now, YouTube is scrapping that whole nuanced approach in favor of a “did it play? Cool, that’s a view” system.
Why It’s Questionable
Shorts are short (duh), which makes measuring true engagement tricky. But does counting every appearance as a view make sense? What about people who scroll slowly? What about accidental replays? Are those really engaged views?
From a numbers standpoint, this new system will inflate view counts, which could make creators feel good. But will it give a real picture of performance? Probably not.
Will This Impact Earnings?
Nope. YouTube says this won’t affect revenue or eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program because monetization is still based on “engaged views”—whatever that means.
So, your view count will go up, but the real performance metrics? Those aren’t changing. Clever move, YouTube. More creators feeling hyped about higher views = more Shorts being uploaded.
The Bottom Line
If you’re making Shorts, expect to see your view counts climb. But don’t get too excited—because YouTube’s real measurement of success is staying the same.
Hey there I’m Kylie Simao, owner of a boutique social media marketing agency dedicated to helping new, local and small businesses who want to promote themselves online using social media.