YouTube Studio Analytics

YouTube Analytics lives in YouTube Studio under Analytics, with tabs for Overview, Content, Audience, Revenue and Trends, and per video Reach and Engagement, where the audience retention graph shows which moments held viewers. Since Aug 24, 2026, YouTube counts a view the moment a video starts playing.

To open YouTube Analytics, sign in to YouTube Studio and click Analytics in the left menu for the whole channel, or go to Content, point to a video and click Analytics for that video alone; the audience retention graph sits on the video's Overview and Engagement tabs. Analytics answers the questions a creator asks after every upload: who saw the video in a feed, how many clicked, how long they stayed, where they left, and what it earned. Since Aug 24, 2026 one number in it works differently: a view counts the moment a video starts to play, in every format.

Quick facts

Where	YouTube Studio > Analytics (channel) or Content > video > Analytics
Channel tabs	Overview, Content, Audience, Revenue, Trends
Video tabs	Overview, Reach, Engagement, Audience, Revenue
Views	Count when playback starts, in all formats, since Aug 24, 2026
Impression	Thumbnail more than 1 second on screen, at least 50% visible
Typical CTR	Half of channels and videos fall between 2% and 10%
Retention data	One to two days to process
Finalized earnings	Between the 7th and 12th of the next month

The tabs

Tab	What it shows
Overview	A summary, the Realtime report and how a video compares with the channel's typical performance
Content	How viewers find and watch the channel's videos, Shorts, live streams and posts, filterable by type
Reach (video)	Impressions, impressions click-through rate, traffic sources
Engagement (video)	Watch time, average view duration, audience retention, key moments
Audience	New, casual and regular viewers, subscribers, when viewers are on YouTube, geography and age
Revenue	Estimated earnings and RPM, for YouTube Partner Program members
Trends	What the channel's audience and all of YouTube are searching for

Source: Get started with YouTube Analytics, YouTube Help. Advanced Mode, linked at the top right of any report, opens the full tables, comparisons and exports.

How are views counted on YouTube?

From Aug 24, 2026, a view counts as soon as a video begins to play, with no minimum watch time, for long-form videos, Shorts and live streams alike. Shorts already counted this way; the change brought long-form and live in line, which TeamYouTube said gives brands a truer picture of exposure (TeamYouTube). It changes the number on the watch page, not the money: YouTube Partner Program earnings are still worked out from engaged views and engaged watch hours, and eligibility from qualified views. Comparisons of view counts across Aug 24, 2026 therefore need care.

Audience retention

The audience retention report draws a line across the video: the share of viewers still watching at each moment. A flat line means people watch to the end; a gentle slope is normal; a spike means many people rewatched or shared that part (or found it confusing); a dip means they skipped or left. Two comparisons sit beside it: typical retention, against the channel's last 10 videos of similar length, and SEE MORE, against all YouTube videos of similar length, the comparison YouTube used to show as relative audience retention.

Key moments call out four things: the intro (the share still watching after the first 30 seconds, a measure of whether the opening kept the promise of the title and thumbnail), top moments, spikes and dips. They appear only on videos at least 60 seconds long with at least 100 views. A segment can show more views than the whole video, because rewatches count again.

George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, built a video around reading relative retention, "YouTube relative audience retention - Get more views!", and another on the minute-by-minute Realtime graph, "New minute-by-minute analytics help you grow!". Both describe Studio as it was when they were recorded; the reports have kept their meaning but moved between tabs.

Impressions and click-through rate

An impression is counted when a thumbnail is on screen for more than 1 second with at least 50% of it visible, on YouTube's home page, search, feeds, Up Next and playlists. Embeds and links on other sites, the mobile website, YouTube Kids and YouTube Music, cards and end screens, notifications and background tabs do not count. Impressions click-through rate is the share of those impressions that led to a view; half of all channels and videos sit between 2% and 10%, and new videos or those under 100 views swing more widely. A falling CTR on a video that is reaching more people is normal, since the new audience knows the channel less. Thumbnail Test and Compare measures which thumbnail or title wins by watch time, not CTR alone.

Trends and the old Inspiration tab

The Trends tab (Analytics > Trends) shows the top searches of the channel's audience over the last 28 days, breakout videos from similar channels, recent topics the audience watched, and content gaps, searches for which viewers find too few good results.

0:00 Studio has also offered an Inspiration page of video ideas. In YouTube Creators' tour it sat under Content > Inspiration on desktop: type a prompt, click Create ideas, and each idea opens with a suggested outline, title ideas and thumbnail options that can be refined further and saved. George's doc noted it could still be opened by adding /content/inspiration to a Studio channel address, and his video "New "For you" section in YouTube Studio for your channel" covers the related suggestions panel. Help says an updated Studio layout has been rolling out since July 2026, so names may differ by channel (Hidden YouTube Studio Pages).

Estimated and finalized revenue

Revenue in Analytics is an estimate. Finalized earnings land between the 7th and 12th of the following month, after YouTube removes invalid traffic and reconciles advertisers, and they are shown before US Tax Withholding. George's experience is that the gap is sometimes more than 10%, and that YouTube has never once paid more after he asked about it. Payments then follow through AdSense for YouTube.

Frequently asked questions

When does YouTube count a view? Since Aug 24, 2026, as soon as a video starts to play, for Shorts, long-form videos and live streams. Partner earnings still use engaged views.

Where is audience retention in YouTube Studio? Open Content, choose a video, click Analytics, and find Audience retention on the Overview or Engagement tab.

What is a good click-through rate on YouTube? YouTube says half of all channels and videos have an impressions CTR between 2% and 10%; compare a video with your own channel rather than a single target.

What counts as an impression on YouTube? A thumbnail shown on YouTube for more than one second with at least half of it visible. Embeds, end screens and notifications do not count.

Why is my YouTube Analytics revenue different from my payment? Analytics shows estimated revenue before invalid traffic deductions and US tax withholding; finalized figures arrive between the 7th and 12th of the next month.

How long does YouTube Analytics take to update? The Realtime report updates almost live, while YouTube says retention data takes one to two days to process.