Facebook and YouTube are the two largest competitors on the web for video advertising. Although YouTube is the clear leader, Facebook appears to be giving the video giant a “run for its money.” However, while Facebook viewership totals (almost 4 billion views per day) may be soaring in comparison to other social media outlets, these numbers are misleading. And YouTube is ensuring its customers know it.
Facebook video “views” are counted at only 3 seconds after the video has started playing and advertisers are worried that may not be enough time to get their message across to viewers. One other criticism of Facebook video views is that an autoplay doesn’t really count as a viewer’s choice. Facebook users may just be momentarily distracted from scrolling down the newsfeed and not really interested in any particular video.
In comparison, YouTube tends to place more thought into viewing time and whether its effectiveness for advertisers. Viewing time has always mattered to YouTube, or at least since 2012, when they changed their platform to measure how long people remained focused on a video vs. how many videos they click. This shift in focus has contributed to YouTube’s continued growth.
YouTube is working hard to convince their advertisers that the view counter isn’t as important as video content. The argument is that counting only initial clicks is not an accurate measure of success. When advertisers focus solely on clicks, they’re missing the most important part of the process – content creation that entices viewers to watch the entire video.
The debate on Facebook’s 3-second view time stats has helped YouTube regain its strength as the web video leader in the advertising world.
http://digiday.com/platforms/facebook-view-problem-good-news-youtube/