How much of a video people watch. YouTube Studio shows it as a curve and as average view duration.
Retention shows, second by second, how many viewers are still watching. A drop in the first seconds usually means the hook did not land; a drop later shows where the video lost them.
For short videos, a tight script matters most: one idea, short sentences, and nothing that could be cut.
Write a 60-second script
Try itThe first line or seconds of a video, written to make people stay for the rest.
OpenThe total time viewers spent watching your videos. YouTube uses it to rank videos and to decide Partner Program eligibility.
OpenThe recommendation system that decides which videos YouTube shows each viewer: on the home page, next to other videos and in the Shorts feed.
OpenThe Shorts views that count for money: plays where the viewer kept watching instead of scrolling straight past. Plain "views" now count every start.
Open