YouTube to count views from video start as Spotify, Reddit add features

Previously, YouTube’s view count was generally understood to require at least 30 seconds of watch time. YouTube said it will keep the old metric under the name ‘engaged views’ in its Analytics dashboard so creators can see how many viewers continued watching. The change will not affect creators’ earnings or how they qualify for the YouTube Partner Program, the company said. However, YouTube also announced last week that it will raise Partner Program requirements next year; according to TechCrunch, new creators will need 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days, up from 4,000 watch hours and 10 million Shorts views currently.

Spotify, meanwhile, launched ‘Playlist Notes’ on Monday, expanding its User Notes feature to let subscribers add context not only to songs but also to podcast episodes and audiobooks in their playlists. The company says its editors will also use the notes to explain pick choices on curated playlists, and new Editor Profiles will show an editor’s top tracks, albums and playlists. User-created notes are rolling out for iOS and Android in more than 100 markets, while editor notes and profiles are available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand for users aged 16 and up.

Reddit is also beginning a limited test of audio and video versions of posts, letting users listen to written stories or watch them as short videos. The test covers select English-language posts and is accessible through Reddit’s iOS and Android apps, where a ‘read’ or ‘play’ option will appear when available. The original text posts and comments remain unchanged, Reddit said. CEO Steve Huffman previewed the effort during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, describing it as a response to podcasts where people read Reddit content. Reddit said the test is an early experiment to explore how these formats can feel authentic to the platform.