YouTube changes how video views are counted

YouTube has introduced a change that is likely to be welcomed by users who frequently post long-form videos. The company has announced a change to the way video views are counted on the video-sharing platform.

Under the new system, a video’s view will be counted as soon as it is played. YouTube previously introduced the same change for Shorts videos about a year ago. It is worth noting that TikTok and Instagram also count a view as soon as a video is played.

In a YouTube Community post, the company said that it had used different view-counting systems in the past but users had reported that the existing system could be confusing. Therefore, YouTube decided to introduce the new update.

As a result of this change, YouTube view counts will increase significantly particularly for videos that users watch for only a short period of time.

According to YouTube, the original view count will also be retained but it will now be called “Engaged Views.” Users will be able to access these figures through YouTube’s analytics tools.

The company clarified that this change will not affect users earnings or their eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program. The new view-counting system will take effect on August 24.

Previously, YouTube had also tightened its requirements for earning money through the platform. Earlier, users were required to have 1,000 subscribers on their channel and more than 4,000 hours of watch time on their long-form videos during the previous 12 months.

Under the new requirements, this has been doubled. Users will now need at least 8,000 hours of watch time over a 12-month period to join the Partner Program and earn money or their YouTube Shorts must receive more than 20 million views within 90 days.

Previously, the requirement for earning through Shorts was 10 million views. This new change will take effect on February 1, 2027 and Google has said that the update will not affect users who are already part of the YouTube Partner Program.