YouTube Now Offers More In-Depth Analytics, Including Time Watched And Annotations Reporting

YouTube just announced a number of updates that will allow video creators to see more in-depth analytics for how users are watching their videos. YouTube’s analytics now, for example, put a stronger emphasis on audience engagement and allow publishers to see an estimate of how many minutes a video was watched in total.

Another new feature the company is launching is a beta version of its annotations report. With this, publishers can see a detailed breakdown of click-through rates and close rates for their annotations. According to Google, “annotations are one of the most used features to drive audience engagement in YouTube,” and this new analytics data should help publishers optimize them for their audiences.

Another feature YouTube power users will appreciate is the service’s new-found ability to compare trends and patterns across two different metrics.

With this update, YouTube is also introducing a few small design changes to Analytics, including an easier to use data slider for selecting date ranges, as well as video hovercards that allow you to see a thumbnail of your video and some basic information about it when you hover over a link.

Google launched the current incarnation of YouTube Analytics, which replaces YouTube Insight, last November.

Making Analytics easier to use
Date slider is back and better than ever. Now you can quickly adjust the date range and see how your videos performed across different time periods.

You can average data across time with rolling totals for 7- and 30-day totals. Instead of seeing changes in weekend traffic and other cyclical data, rolling totals will smooth the trends to help you see overall growth without the distracting spikes and dips. 

 

The metadata section for your videos and channels instantly provides you with data such as lifetime views and video duration. 

 

The video hovercard helps you see a thumbnail of your video and basic information by simply hovering over your video link.



Compare metrics provides you with more ways to compare trends and patterns across two different metrics.



We understand the importance of having data and insights for your channel and want to continue improving our analytics to help you grow your audience. Please let us know if there are any other features you would like us to build, in the comments below.

Posted in: Social Media, YouTube