YouTube will change how it counts public views across the platform.
Under the new system, a view will be counted as soon as a video starts playing, from the first frame, with no minimum watch time requirement. The change will apply globally to all video formats.
According to YouTube’s announcement, the update is intended to use the same view-counting standard across different formats.
The original view metric will remain available in YouTube Analytics under Advanced Mode as “Engaged views,” which shows how many viewers continued watching a video.
The change will not affect creator earnings or YouTube Partner Program (YPP) eligibility. YouTube said earnings will continue to use engaged Shorts views and engaged watch hours.
Creators may also see their public view counts increase once the new system takes effect starting August 24, 2026.