Measuring the success of a YouTube video is useful in understanding which videos are having an influence on individuals. YouTube provides the following statistics to the public that can be used to help measure the success of a YouTube video:

•Views

•Rating

•Comments

•Links

•Honors

•Favorites

•Related Videos

These statistics vary in usefulness.

Views

Users are allowed to rate videos on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 stars being the highest.

* Pros – Rough measure of the popularity of a given video

* Cons – You have no idea about who is rating and what their biases are. YouTube ratings are very flawed, and using them in any capacity is a bad idea

Comments

Comments on videos are allowed to be posted by registered users.

* Pros – Ideally, you can see what kind of support you have for your video

* Cons - In reality, YouTube comments are the lowest form of debate. The anonymous nature of YouTube leads to poor debate.

Links

Links show where your video is being embedded or linked from.

* Pros – You can see the communities that are watching your video. This information gives you some insight on who is watching your video and at what rate.

* Cons – Only shows you the top 5 web links.

Honors

Videos with a large number of views, high ratings, etc. can be “honored,” which puts them up on the main page and gives them more exposure.

* Pros – Gives you information on why your video went viral. Also tells you that a video became popular quickly and tells you that your video is doing well in relation to other videos.

* Cons – Honors can be manufactured in many ways, which makes it a less reliable source of information. Many weird videos receive honors because of hacking tools used by the poster of the video.

Favorites

Users are allowed to save videos as favorites so they can access them later.

* Pros – Favorites are generally a better way to measure how much people like a video than rating, because those that really like a video are more likely to save it as a favorite.

* Cons – People that add your video to their favorites may already be big fans of you. If you are looking to persuade people with your video, this may not tell you much.

YouTube Insight

In late March 2008, YouTube released Insight, an add-on that allows users to see where in the world their videos are being watched, and on which days. This information is displayed in a convenient graph. The graph can be set to show the absolute number of views a video has received or the relative number.

* Pros – Campaigns can now track their videos to see where they are resonating. For example, if an ad is doing particularly well in a certain state, they may want to show that ad more there. Or, if one isn’t doing well, they may want to stop airing the ad. This allows campaigns to better target their efforts.

* Cons – If a video is being watched often in one state, it doesn’t mean the video is reaching the audience its target audience. It is quite possible the video is being viewed by those that won’t change their behavior because of the video. Also, you can only get information on your own videos, which makes it difficult to get a read of what kind of response your opponents are getting.