YouTube has opened the gates of controversy with an announcement defining how it will count a video view. There’s no complex formula or sophisticated calculation.Starting August 24, YouTube will count a public video view from the first frame that plays.
That extraordinary benchmark, which is already in place for YouTube Shorts, will start August 24 and promises dispute and upset in the video podcast advertising sector.
Impact and reaction
In the recently published AMP Accords (RAIN coverage HERE), — a constitutional document which seeks to define what a podcast is, how usage is measured, and how listener actions are attributed — a podcast play is defined as one real person listening or watching for at least 30 consecutive seconds.
The vast difference between those two definitions — one frame and 30 seconds — rips a jagged hole in the fabric of podcast advertising metrics. With this change creators are forced to track two separate and incompatible metrics — an inflated count of (inflated) public views and a hidden reality of podcast analytics.
A scalding opinion piece by Zachary Boone, President of Podcast Sales at production company YMH Studios, sets a tone of upset for creators as a whole.
