YouTube Analytics Now Reports on Traffic Sources

YouTube Analytics is getting updated with a new report that will show creators how viewers are finding their videos.

In the latest news bulletin for channel owners on the Creator Insider channel, the YouTube team explains how this new report makes data about traffic sources much clearer.

YouTube channel owners can find the new report in the Analytics tab in YouTube Studio.

In the Overview area there’s now a section titled: “How viewers found this video.”

In the example above you can see how the report lists the traffic source, the percentage of views generated by each traffic source, and the total number of viewers from each source.

Traffic sources included in the report are:

• Notifications
• Subscriptions feed
• YouTube recommendations
• Channel pages
• Other

The YouTube team doesn’t explain what ‘Other’ sources might include, but my guess would be viewers clicking on a link to a video from the comment section of another video. Or other random placements like that.

Next to each traffic source there will either be a green arrow, a grey arrow, or a dash.

If the report shows a green arrow pointing upward it means the traffic source is performing better than usual, according to the channel’s historical data.

A grey arrow pointing downward means the traffic source is underperforming compared to the number of viewers typically generated by that source.

A dash indicator, or no indicator at all, means YouTube does not have enough historic data from that traffic source to know whether performance is up or down.

It’s normal for viewers to find a video in different ways and in different places. So it’s common to see many different traffic sources in this report.

When a video performs exceptionally well with a particular traffic source it may get fewer views or impressions from others.

If a lot viewers see a video on their home page, for example, then it may get fewer impressions from other sources because users already saw it recommended to them.

This update is now available in YouTube Studio.

Another Update: YouTube Audio Library

In the same news bulletin the YouTube team announced the launch another feature which is sure to make creator’s lives easier.

YouTube Studio is getting its own audio library, which is a collection of thousands of free songs and sound effects creators can edit into their videos.

Not only does this simplify the process of mixing in additional audio, but it virtually ensures the video will not receive a copyright strike for using licensed sounds.

Further, eligible creators can still fully monetize their videos when music and sounds effects from the YouTube audio library is added.

This update is also available now in YouTube Studio.