Getting more youtube views is an important part of growing a channel. But it’s also important to know what makes a view count legitimate. YouTube has strict guidelines to ensure that real users are watching videos.
YouTube’s definition of a view is that a user intentionally starts watching a video and watches it for at least 30 seconds. This includes time spent skipping a video, but the duration of the watch is still considered. A view counts for paid ads as well, though the platform does not share the nitty-gritty details about how that’s measured (it could help bad actors create undetectable bot views).
There are certain behaviors that can flag an account as potentially being a bot. For example, if an account keeps refreshing the same video over and over, YouTube considers that a spamming behavior. YouTube also does not count multiple views from the same user or IP address within a short time frame, as this can indicate that an individual is intentionally watching the same video over and over to boost its count.
If a video reaches 300 views, the count is temporarily frozen. This is because YouTube employees manually review the videos that have reached this milestone to make sure that they’re legitimate. If they find evidence of fraud, the views will be removed. This helps keep the platform clean of fraudulent activity and provides a reliable and accurate representation of watch time. youtube views