Metrics

views (core metric)

This metric represents different numbers in different types of reports:

• In video reports, this metric specifies the number of times that a video was viewed.
• In playlist reports that do not use the isCurated dimension, this metric specifies the total number of views for videos in the playlist, regardless of whether those views occurred in the context of the playlist. Note that the metric value includes only views of the channel owner's videos.
  
  In these reports, the playlistViews metric indicates the number of times that playlist videos were viewed in the context of a specific playlist.
• In playlist reports that use the isCurated dimension, this metric indicates the number of times that videos were viewed in the context of a specific playlist. Note that the playlistViews metric is not supported for these reports.

This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

playlistViews

This metric is defined in the playlist metrics section.

redViews

The number of times that a video was viewed by YouTube Premium (previously known as YouTube Red) members.

uniques (deprecated September 27, 2016)

The number of unique viewers that watched a video. This calculation is based on the number of unique cookies and, therefore, will overcount users who are using multiple devices or browsers.
The uniques metric was deprecated on September 27, 2016. It is not a core metric and will be supported until October 31, 2016.

viewerPercentage (core metric)

The percentage of viewers who were logged in when watching the video or playlist. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

estimatedMinutesWatched (core metric)

The number of minutes that users watched videos for the specified channel, content owner, video, or playlist. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

estimatedRedMinutesWatched

The number of minutes that YouTube Premium (previously known as YouTube Red) members watched a video.

averageViewDuration (core metric)

The average length, in seconds, of video playbacks. As of December 13, 2021, this metric excludes looping clips traffic. In a playlist report, the metric indicates the average length, in seconds, of video playbacks that occurred in the context of a playlist. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

averageViewPercentage

The average percentage of a video watched during a video playback. As of December 13, 2021, this metric excludes looping clips traffic.

comments (core metric)

The number of times that users commented on a video. See the YouTube Help Center for more information. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

likes (core metric)

The number of times that users indicated that they liked a video by giving it a positive rating. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

dislikes (core metric)

The number of times that users indicated that they disliked a video by giving it a negative rating. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

shares (core metric)

The number of times that users shared a video through the Share button. See the YouTube Help Center for more information. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

subscribersGained (core metric)

The number of times that users subscribed to a channel. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

Channels can gain or lose subscribers in several places, including the video watch page, the channel page, and the guide that appears on the YouTube home page. In channel reports, this metric includes subscribers gained from any of these places. However, in reports that use either the video dimension or the filter parameter to restrict the response to only include data for a particular video, the subscribersGained metric will only include statistics from the specified video's watch page.

subscribersLost (core metric)

The number of times that users unsubscribed from a channel. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

Data for this metric is reported similarly to the subscribersGained metric. In channel reports, this metric includes subscribers lost through any mechanism through which users can unsubcribe from a channel. However, in reports that use either the video dimension or the filter parameter to restrict the response to only include data for a particular video, this metric only includes users who unsubscribed from the specified video's watch page.

videosAddedToPlaylists

The number of times that videos were added to any YouTube playlists. The videos could have been added to the video owner's playlist or to other channels' playlists.

The metric value does include the number of times that videos were added to default playlists like the "Watch Later" playlist. However, it does not count playlists that a video is automatically added to, such as a channel's uploads playlist or a user's watch history.

This metric returns an absolute number, meaning that if a user adds a video to a playlist, removes it, and then adds it again, the metric value reflects the video being added to a playlist twice. Data for this metric is not available for dates before October 1, 2014.

videosRemovedFromPlaylists

The number of times that videos were removed from any YouTube playlists. The videos could have been removed from the video owner's playlist or from other channels' playlists.

The metric value includes the number of times that videos were removed from default playlists like the "Watch Later" playlist.

This metric returns an absolute number, meaning that if a user adds a video to a playlist, removes it, adds it again, and then removes it again, the metric value reflects the video being removed from a playlist twice. Data for this metric is not available for dates before October 1, 2014.

Deprecated engagement metrics

The following metrics were both core metrics that were deprecated on March 31, 2015.

favoritesAdded (core metric) (deprecated March 31, 2015)

The number of times that users marked a video as a favorite video. See the YouTube Help Center for more information. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

favoritesRemoved (core metric) (deprecated March 31, 2015)

The number of times that users removed a video from their favorite video lists. See the YouTube Help Center for more information. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

averageTimeInPlaylist

The estimated average amount of time, in minutes, that a viewer viewed videos in a playlist after the playlist was initiated. Note that this metric includes only playlist views that occurred on the web.

playlistAverageViewDuration

The estimated average length, in seconds, watched per playlist view. Note that this metric represents the average length of views of individual videos within a playlist; the averageTimeInPlaylist metric, by contrast, represents the average time each viewer spends watching the playlist as a whole. This metric includes data for playlist videos that are owned by other channels.

playlistEstimatedMinutesWatched

The number of minutes that users watched the playlist content as a part of the playlist. Watch time that occurred in other contexts—for example, watch time from views that occurred when viewers were watching the same video as part of other playlists—is not counted. This metric includes data for playlist videos that are owned by other channels.

playlistSaves

The net number of times that users saved a playlist. See the YouTube Help Center for more information about saved playlists. This metric returns a net change number, meaning that if a user saves a playlist, removes it from the list of saved playlists, and saves it again, the metric value reflects one playlist save being added.

playlistStarts

The number of times that viewers initiated playback of a playlist. Note that this metric includes only playlist views that occurred on the web.

playlistViews

The number of times that videos in the playlist were viewed in the context of that playlist. This metric includes data for playlist videos that are owned by other channels.

viewsPerPlaylistStart

The average number of video views that occurred each time a playlist was initiated. Note that this metric includes only playlist views that occurred on the web.

annotationImpressions

The total number of annotation impressions.

annotationClickableImpressions

The number of annotations that appeared and could be clicked.

annotationClicks

The number of clicked annotations.

annotationClickThroughRate (core metric)

The ratio of annotations that viewers clicked to the total number of clickable annotation impressions. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy. The YouTube Help Center has more information about creating annotations and using link annotations.

annotationClosableImpressions

The number of annotations that appeared and could be closed.

annotationCloses

The number of closed annotations.

annotationCloseRate (core metric)

The ratio of annotations that viewers closed to the total number of annotation impressions. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

cardImpressions

The number of times cards were displayed. When the card panel is opened, a card impression is logged for each of the video's cards.

cardClicks

The number of times that cards were clicked.

cardClickRate

The click-through-rate for cards, which is calculated as the ratio of card clicks to card impressions.

cardTeaserImpressions

The number of times that card teasers were displayed. A video view can generate multiple teaser impressions.

cardTeaserClicks

The number of clicks on card teasers. Card icon clicks are attributed to the last teaser displayed to the user.

cardTeaserClickRate

The click-through-rate for card teasers, which is calculated as the ratio of clicks on card teasers to the total number of card teaser impressions.

averageConcurrentViewers

The average number of concurrent viewers for a particular video. If the livestreamPosition dimension is specified for the report, then the averageConcurrentViewers value specifies the average number of concurrent viewers during a particular segment

peakConcurrentViewers

The peak number of concurrent viewers for a particular video. If the livestreamPosition dimension is specified for the report, then the peakConcurrentViewers value specifies the peak number of concurrent viewers during a particular segment of the video.

audienceWatchRatio

The absolute ratio of viewers watching the video at the given point in the video. The ratio is calculated by comparing the number of times a portion of a video has been watched to the total number of views of the video. The elapsedVideoTimeRatio dimension identifies the portion of the video to which the metric corresponds.

Note that a portion of a video could be watched more than once (or not at all) in a given video view. For example, if users rewind and watch the same portion of a video multiple times, then the absolute ratio for that portion of the video the could be greater than 1.

The following examples illustrate how the value is calculated:

• A one-minute video is watched 100 times. Half of the viewers stop watching after 15 seconds and the rest watch the entire video. None of the viewers watch any parts of the video more than once. In this case, this metric's value would be 1 for time buckets in the first quarter of the video, and its value would be 0.50 for the remainder of the video.
• A one-minute video is watched 100 times. All of the viewers watch the entire video, but 20 of the viewers watch until the video's 45-second mark, then skip back to the video's 30-second mark, and then watch the remainder of the video. In this case, the metric's value would be 1 for time buckets in either the first half or the last quarter of the video. However, the value would be 1.2 for time buckets in the third quarter of the video since 100 percent of the viewers watched that segment of the video but 20% of those viewers watched the segment twice.

relativeRetentionPerformance

A measurement that shows how well a video retains viewers during playbacks in comparison to all YouTube videos of similar length. The metric has a value between 0 and 1 that identifies the video's relative retention performance at a given point in the video. The point in the video is provided by the elapsedVideoTimeRatio dimension.

A value of 0 indicates that the video retains viewers worse than any other video of similar length, while a value of 1 indicates that the video retains viewers better than any other video of similar length. A median value of 0.5 indicates that half of the videos of similar length retain viewers better while half retain viewers worse.

The following hypothetical example illustrates how the values might appear in a report. On average, 90 percent of viewers who watch videos that are 10 minutes long are still watching after three minutes and 70 percent are still watching after eight minutes. However, for a specific 10-minute-long video, only 80 percent of viewers are still watching after three minutes, but all of those viewers are still watching after eight minutes.

• At the elapsedVideoTimeRatio value that corresponds to the point that is three minutes into the video, the relativeRetentionPerformance metric would have a value below 0.5 since, at that time, the video performs worse than the average video.
• At the elapsedVideoTimeRatio value corresponding to the point that is eight minutes into the video, the relativeRetentionPerformance metric would have a value higher than 0.5 since, at that time, the video is performing better than other videos of similar length.

startedWatching

The number of times a particular segment of the video was the first segment seen during a video playback.

For example, suppose Video X is 5 minutes long. For the purposes of this report, YouTube divides the video into 100 3-second segments, which are identified with the elapsedVideoTimeRatio dimension. A viewer visits YouTube and watches the first minute and ten seconds of the video, which includes all or part of the first 24 segments of the video. On a subsequent YouTube visit, the viewer watches the rest of the video, resuming playback in segment 24 and continuing through segment 100.

This example would produce these watch metric values:

• The value of the startedWatching metric would be 1 for segments 1 and 24, and the metric value would be 0 for all other segments.
• The value of the stoppedWatching metric would be 1 for segments 24 and 100, and the metric value would be 0 for all other segments.
• The value of the totalSegmentImpressions metric would be 2 for segment 24, and the metric value would be 1 for all other segments.

stoppedWatching

The number of times a particular segment of the video was the last segment seen during a video playback. Refer to the definition of the startedWatching metric for an example of how this metric value is calculated.

totalSegmentImpressions

The number of times a particular segment of a video was viewed. Refer to the definition of the startedWatching metric for an example of how this metric value is calculated. Note that a viewer can watch the same segment of a video multiple times in the same playback.

membershipsCancellationSurveyResponses

The number of surveys completed by YouTube users who canceled their channel membership for the specified channel during the reporting period.

estimatedRevenue (core metric) (previously named earnings)

The total estimated net revenue from all Google-sold advertising sources as well as from non-advertising sources for the selected date range and region. This is a core metric and is subject to the Deprecation Policy.

Estimated revenue metrics are subject to month-end adjustment and do not include partner-sold and partner-served advertising.

estimatedAdRevenue (previously named adEarnings)

The total estimated net revenue from all Google-sold advertising sources for the selected date range and region.

Estimated revenue metrics are subject to month-end adjustment and do not include partner-sold and partner-served advertising.

estimatedRedPartnerRevenue (previously named redPartnerRevenue)

The total estimated revenue earned from YouTube Premium (previously known as YouTube Red) subscriptions for the selected report dimensions. The metric's value reflects revenue from both music and non-music content and is subject to month-end adjustment.

grossRevenue

The estimated gross revenue, in USD, from all Google-sold or DoubleClick-partner-sold advertising for the selected date range and region. Gross revenue is subject to month-end adjustment and does not include partner-served advertising. Gross revenue should not be confused with estimated revenue, or net revenue, which factors in your share of ownership and revenue-sharing agreements.

cpm (previously named impressionBasedCpm)

The estimated gross revenue per thousand ad impressions.

adImpressions (previously named impressions)

The number of verified ad impressions served.

monetizedPlaybacks

The number of instances when a viewer played your video and was shown at least one ad impression. A monetized playback is counted if a viewer is shown a preroll ad but quits watching the ad before your video ever starts. The expected estimated error for this figure is ±2.0%.

playbackBasedCpm

The estimated gross revenue per thousand playbacks.