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If you’re a content creator on YouTube, one of the most important metrics you monitor is the number of views your videos receive. Views are not just a measure of popularity but also influence monetization, audience reach, and overall engagement. However, many creators don’t fully understand what qualifies as a “view” on YouTube.
For standard long-form YouTube videos, the platform has a clear benchmark: a view is counted when a viewer watches at least 30 seconds of the video. This system ensures that only meaningful interactions contribute to a video’s total views, preventing cases where users scroll past videos without actually watching them.
However, with the rise of short-form content, YouTube introduced a separate set of rules for tracking views on YouTube Shorts. Unlike traditional videos, YouTube did not apply the 30-second rule to Shorts. Instead, a view was counted after just a few seconds of watch time. The exact duration was never publicly disclosed, leaving creators guessing about what really contributed to their view counts.
But now, a major change is coming that will redefine how views on YouTube Shorts are calculated—and it could have a significant impact on how creators interpret their success.
YouTube Shorts View Counts Are Changing
Starting March 31, 2025, YouTube will change how it counts views on YouTube Shorts. Unlike before, when Shorts needed to be watched for a few seconds to be counted as a view, now a view will be counted the moment a video begins to play.
This means that the instant a user sees a YouTube Shorts video in their feed—even if they scroll past it almost immediately—YouTube will register it as a view.
Furthermore, because YouTube Shorts videos loop automatically, every time a video restarts from the beginning, YouTube will count it as a new view. This differs greatly from the way views have traditionally been counted on the platform and could lead to significantly higher view counts for Shorts moving forward.
According to YouTube, this update comes in response to feedback from content creators. Many YouTubers who specialize in Shorts have argued that the old system did not accurately reflect audience exposure. The new approach aims to give creators a better understanding of how often their videos are surfaced and seen, even
