In late August, YouTube announced it has changed its method of counting video views. 

In the past, the platform used several different systems for counting views, but creators wanted better information on view counts so they could understand their true exposure.

Now, video views on YouTube will be counted like this:

• YouTube videos will be counted once a viewer presses “play” and watches for at least 30 seconds.
• Live videos will be counted once a viewer watches a stream for 30+ seconds.
• Shorts will be counted as soon as the Short shows up on the screen and starts to play.

The change will have a big effect on view counts. For example, with the old counting system, people often skipped over a video before the 30 second mark, which didn’t count as a view, but now it will.