The view counter no longer tells you what an integration is worth

What changed on 24 August

Until 24 August 2026, a long-form video had to be watched for a certain time to count as a view: commonly assumed to be about thirty seconds, a threshold YouTube never confirmed. Since then, a view is counted as soon as playback starts, for long-form videos and live streams alike. The old measure has not disappeared: it is now called “engaged views” and remains visible in the channel’s analytics, to its owner and a few authorised platforms only. A brand cannot read it for itself: it asks the creator or their agent. YouTube made the same move for Shorts in March 2025.

The knock-on effect: the number shown under a video inflates. A first published order of magnitude: across more than 75,000 videos measured after 24 August by the platform Agentio (videos from creators in its own network), 60% of public views were engaged views. By the same measure, plays started from recommendation surfaces (hovering on the home page, autoplay) produce 38% of public views, and only one in five becomes an engaged view. A brand paying by the public counter therefore pays more for the same attention.

What we base a price on

At Haunted, the price of an integration is calculated from the channel’s measured performance. Fame and subscriber count come second. We apply three rules.

The median of engaged views rather than the mean: one video that takes off pulls the average up and makes the advertiser pay for a success that will not necessarily happen again. Consistency matters just as much: views that vary little from one video to the next protect an advertiser better than an isolated spike.

Thirty days: the window over which we measure a video and deliver our reports.

The creator’s own figures: we work with today’s YouTube Studio statistics, not with year-old screenshots or estimates from third-party tools.

Who carries the risk

Most of our integrations are sold at a fixed price, calculated from that median. Where the profile and the advertiser allow, we offer a CPM model with a cap: the brand pays for what was actually seen, and the cap protects its budget. We prefer this capped model to tiered pricing: a tier changes the invoice over a handful of views and frustrates both sides.

If the contract includes a view guarantee, it applies. Otherwise, a fixed price remains a fixed price: it is the capped CPM model that shares the risk. Beyond what the contract provides, any gesture is a commercial one: it is decided case by case, with the creator, and is never a standard commitment. One practice is forbidden in every case: artificially boosting a creator’s views.

The best indicator

Views measure exposure. For results, we look at something else: does the advertiser come back? A brand rarely comes back for views alone. CyberGhost has run 26 activations with our creators, Holy 96.