YouTube has announced new rules for counting video views that will affect creators across all content formats on the platform.
In a statement on Monday, August 17, the platform said the change will bring other video formats in line with the view-counting system introduced for Shorts last year.
"Last year, we updated how we count public views for Shorts to better capture how viewers watch on YouTube. Now, we’re aligning all other video formats to this same standard for consistency across the platform," the statement read.
YouTube said the new system will begin applying to all formats from August 24, with a view recorded from the first frame of a video.
"Beginning on 8/24/2026, a view will be counted the moment a video begins to play - from the very first frame. This standard will now apply globally across all formats," the statement added.
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YouTube explained that the previous system used different methods to count views depending on the video format.
The change responds to feedback from creators who wanted greater clarity when interpreting their performance figures.
"Historically, we’ve used multiple view counting systems across different formats. However, we’ve heard that creators want to eliminate this metric confusion and accurately understand their true exposure, which is why we’re making this update," the statement further read.
Despite the change to the public view metric, YouTube said creators will continue to have access to the previous metric in YouTube Analytics.
The metric, now referred to as "Engaged views," will remain available in Advanced Mode and will show how many viewers chose to continue watching a video.
"We’ll keep the original view metric, called “Engaged views,” in YouTube Analytics > Advanced Mode so creators can see how many viewers choose to continue watching their video," the statement explained.
YouTube also stated that the update will not affect creator earnings or the requirements for joining the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
The platform said earnings will continue to be calculated using engaged views and watch hours.
YouTube also said there will be no change to the eligibility requirements for the YouTube Partner Program. However, some terminology used to describe the requirements will be updated.
"There is no change to YPP eligibility. YPP entry requirements will also now be referred to as 'qualified Shorts views' and 'qualified watch hours' (previously 'valid public Shorts views' and 'valid public watch hours')," the statement noted.
Creators are expected to notice the effect of the new counting system in their publicly displayed view totals after the changes take effect.
According to YouTube, because views will be counted from the moment a video starts playing, total view counts are likely to increase at a faster rate.
"From 8/24 onwards, you’ll start to see the new view metric applied wherever views are shown on YouTube (which means creators will likely see their total view counts increase faster moving forward)," the statement added.
YouTube said the move is intended to give creators a consistent way of measuring exposure across different types of content.
The company also expects the standardized figures to help creators communicate their audience reach to businesses and potential sponsors.
"We hope that having metric parity across all formats gives creators a clearer picture of their overall exposure and makes it easier to confidently express their true scale and value to brand partners and sponsors," the statement concluded.
Elsewhere, this comes weeks after TikTok revealed it removed 884,591 videos posted by Kenyan users in the first quarter of 2026.
In a report released on Thursday, July 23, TikTok said the videos violated its community guidelines in Kenya.
According to TikTok, 99.7 percent of videos were proactively removed before anyone reported them, with 96.3 percent taken down within 24 hours of posting.
"These figures underscore TikTok’s continued investment in advanced detection systems and rapid response mechanisms designed to limit the spread of harmful content," the report read.
The social media platform also banned 48,739 accounts suspected to belong to users under the age of 13.
"TikTok removed 48,739 accounts suspected to belong to users under the age of 13, a violation of its Community Guidelines, highlighting the platform’s commitment to protecting younger users online," the report added.
Globally, TikTok removed 184,012,576 videos during the quarter of the year, representing about 0.5% of all content uploaded on the platform.
TikTok noted that 178,014,154 videos were detected and taken down using automated detection technologies and 8,838,710 videos were reinstated after further review.
"The platform recorded a 99.3% proactive removal rate, with 94.4% of flagged content removed within 24 hours of posting," the platform said.
TikTok also interrupted 58,207,389 live sessions globally and 21,996,667 creators for violating the platform's live monetization guidelines.
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