The relative importance of click-through rates (CTR) versus watch time for YouTube views

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze whether average video watch time or click-through rates (CTR) on YouTube videos are more closely associated with high numbers of views per subscriber using linear regressions.

Design/methodology/approach

In 2018, YouTube began releasing CTR data to its video creators. Since 2012, YouTube has emphasized how it favors watch time over clicks in its recommendations to viewers. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first academic study looking at that CTR data to test what matters more for views on YouTube. Is watch time or CTR more important to getting views on YouTube?

Findings

The author analyzed new video releases on YouTube. This paper finds almost no or limited evidence that higher percent audience retention or total average watch time per view, respectively, are associated with more views on YouTube. Instead, videos with higher CTR got significantly more views.

Originality/value

The author knows no other study that tests the relative importance of CTR or watch time per view in predicting views for new videos on YouTube.

Citation

Wilson, L.T. (2023), "The relative importance of click-through rates (CTR) versus watch time for YouTube views", International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 573-595. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPCC-10-2021-0269