YouTubeYouTube watch time in the MacBook notch
Watch time is the total minutes watched across the channel, and it is the number YouTube's own recommendation systems care about most.
Minutes, reported as hours
The YouTube Analytics API returns estimatedMinutesWatched. Notch Metrics
holds the value in seconds, as every duration in the product is, and shows it
in hours because a channel of any size produces a minute figure too long to
read at a glance in the notch.
Why it beats views
Views count arrivals. Watch time counts attention, and it is roughly what decides whether YouTube shows a video to anybody else. A video with fewer views and far more watch time is the one working.
Watch time rises when you publish more, when videos get longer, and when people stay. Those are three different things, so pair this with average view duration: if watch time climbs while average view duration falls, you are getting reach rather than retention.
Buckets are Pacific Time, like every YouTube figure.
What YouTube watch time means, exactly
YouTube Analytics estimatedMinutesWatched in the window, shown as hours. This is the figure monetisation thresholds are measured against.
A length of time, held in seconds and shown in whichever unit reads best.
How the widget behaves
- Buckets
- daily, weekly and monthly
- Shape
- A figure with a sparkline
- Against last period
- Yes
- Fetched from
- youtubeanalytics.googleapis.com, www.googleapis.com, oauth2.googleapis.com
Questions
- How is YouTube watch time calculated?
- YouTube Analytics estimatedMinutesWatched in the window, shown as hours. This is the figure monetisation thresholds are measured against. Notch Metrics reports that number, unchanged, in the MacBook notch.
- Can I see YouTube watch time over time?
- Yes. YouTube watch time is bucketed daily, weekly and monthly, so the widget carries a sparkline alongside the headline figure, and a comparison against the previous window.
- What unit is YouTube watch time in?
- A length of time, held in seconds and shown in whichever unit reads best.
- What does it cost to put YouTube watch time in the notch?
- $9 a month, or $49 a year, with every connector included and no per-integration charge. The seven-day trial needs no card, so you can see your own watch time before deciding.