YouTube is about to make every Shorts creator look a whole lot more popular. In what could be called “The Great View Inflation of 2025,” YouTube announced it’s fundamentally changing how it counts views on Shorts, its TikTok-like short-form video format.

What’s Changing?
Starting March 31, YouTube will count a view the moment a Short starts playing or replaying. No more waiting for viewers to watch a certain number of seconds before the almighty view counter ticks up—if it appears on-screen, it counts.

Why The Change?
According to YouTube, this change comes from creator feedback. Apparently, creators have been eager to know exactly how many times their 15-second dance routines or cooking hacks actually begin playing, even if the viewers immediately scroll past them.

What Are The Reaped Perks?
This change aligns YouTube Shorts metrics with those of TikTok and Instagram Reels, both of which already count views based on when videos start playing. This consistency will make it easier for creators to compare performance across platforms.

But What About Quality Engagement?
For creators who still care about whether people actually watch their content rather than just accidentally scrolling past it, YouTube isn’t completely abandoning the old metric. The previous measurement has been renamed “Engaged Views” and will be available in YouTube Analytics’ “Advanced Mode.”

These “Engaged Views”—which count viewers who choose to continue watching beyond those first few seconds—will remain the metric that matters for monetization. YouTube explicitly states that the change won’t impact creator earnings or eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program, as both will continue to be based on engaged views.

Press here to know more.