Do YouTube Video Views From Embeds Count?
This is a particularly common question that makes sense when you think about it. How does Google/YouTube’s algorithm count views? If it’s a load of some code on the YouTube video page, any video embedded on another site wouldn’t count. If it’s some metric about calling the data of the video itself, it would count. Which is it?
The answer is that any embed of a video hosted on YouTube will count as a view when that video is played, with one exception. There are, however, other reasons your views might not count, and reasons why your recorded impressions on an embedded video don’t match the view count on YouTube.
Views That Don’t Count
There are a few sources of views that don’t count, and a few things that will disqualify a view from counting.
- Views from an embedded video set to autoplay may or may not count. This has varied over the years and there are many conflicting reports available. In general, however, a video set to play automatically is an annoyance that drives users away. Allow them to load the video on their own terms; don’t force it on them.
- Views from the creator of the content typically count, to a limited extent. YouTube has no way of knowing, for example, whether you’re showing the video to other people on your computer or not. However, refreshing the page dozens of times to inflate the view count will cause those views to not count.
- Repeated views from the same user over a short period of time typically don’t count. Repeat views are legitimate in some cases, typically music videos and tutorials, but they often take place in a single session. If the user is reloading the page each time they view the video, they’re probably trying to game the system and their repeat views won’t count.
- Views from known spam IPs or the IPs of known view sellers. It’s possible to go to a site like Fiverr and purchase hundreds of views, but those views do nothing for you. They may count, temporarily, but when YouTube audits your view count, they will disappear.
- Views from robots. A search engine crawler – or a robot designed to earn more views – isn’t going to trigger the code that counts a view. If it does, that view will likely be removed.
- Views from sites where the embed code is broken. If the video is loading partially and the user refreshes several times trying to get it to work, those views don’t count. The video has to load cleanly and completely for a view to count.
Additionally, some embedded views don’t count, typically due to the users doing the viewing. Some users use extensions to limit how their browser talks with other sites, and they may restrict the information they give out. In these cases, YouTube wouldn’t be able to recognize the view.
The Infamous 301
The other view count issue people run into on YouTube is the 301 views issue. Videos beneath 300 views are left to increment their views in real time. Videos that reach a number above 301 are frozen in place while a script audits the records of the views that video has received. This process can often take days or weeks, depending on the traffic to the video and to the site.
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