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YouTube's Play Count Method

Discussion in 'Formats & External Tools' started by renman3000, Jan 1, 2013.

  1. renman3000

    renman3000

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2011
    Posts:
    6,697
    Hi all and happy new year.

    I am not sure where else to ask this question but.. I am studying, play counts on YouTube. A count for my video seems to not operate at a count++ way. Meaning, if I refresh the video that play does not necessarily register at all, if it does, it is certainly not shown instantly. Also, I noticed my play count dip. I know that is probably, ultimately impossible but it did.

    Do, I am wondering does anyone have a clear explanation or understanding of how YouTube collects its play counts and then displays them? Considering of course, all computers and devices connected to the page on the www.


    Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2013
  2. Toasttify

    Toasttify

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    Posts:
    143
    Youtube does not update views in real time, it counts the views and after awhile it will update the counter.

    Also when a newly uploaded video becomes popular it freezes the view count at around 301, it then checks to make sure the views are legit then unlocks it and allows new views to show.
     
  3. renman3000

    renman3000

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2011
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    6,697
    Is 301 the magic number? And how long is the freeze?
     
  4. Westerbly

    Westerbly

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2012
    Posts:
    60
    I've seen this 301 thing many times in well viewed channels. The freeze can take hours, but I'm not totally sure.

    The strange part is that often the videos with 301 views had 10000+ likes, but after what Toasttify said it makes more sense.
     
  5. magnite

    magnite

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    Dec 12, 2012
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    125
  6. Toasttify

    Toasttify

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    Posts:
    143
    Great article, and yeah I've had one of my videos get a thousand likes stuck at 301 views, then the next day the counter updated to 100k views or whatever it was.
     
  7. renman3000

    renman3000

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2011
    Posts:
    6,697
    Very handy.
    Thanks guys.
     
  8. hammer

    hammer

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2012
    Posts:
    62
    Youtube analyzes the first 300 views for click fraud. So, whatever you do, don't sit there and click on
    your own video 300 times. Otherwise it will be stuck at 300 for a very long time.