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Understanding Video Counts

nn

Have you ever wondered how the various video sites determine a view count?

TubeMogul conducted a study of the various video hosting sites by uploading videos, monitoring the conditions and recording the counts.

Site Full View <1/2 View >1/2 View Refresh Embed
AOL Uncut Count Count Count Count Count
Dailymotion Count Count Count No Count No Count
Google Count No Count Count No Count No Count
Metacafe One/IP addr. One/IP addr. One/IP addr. One/IP addr. One/IP addr.
Myspace Count No Count Count Count Count
Revver Count Count Count Count Count
Yahoo! Video One/IP addr. No Count No Count One/IP addr. No Count
YouTube Count No Count No Count No Count One/IP addr.

As you can see, YouTube only ads one count per i.p. address, per fully watched video. No partial views get counted. When a video is embedded, it only gets counted once per i.p. no matter how many times the video is viewed. Yahoo Video and Metacafe are even more stringent.

Compare this to Revver which gives a count to a full view, a 1/2 view, less than 1/2 a view, refreshes and embeds. Big difference. Why would Revver be so slack on a count? The only reason I can think of is hyperbole.

nn

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