AdAge has a great article about the counting of online video views, and the lack of standards – thee best part for me is the rundown of stats on most watched series. Amazing how big some series are:
During the past few weeks there have been numerous mysterious web video numbers bandied about, with little or no analysis or skepticism in any of the reporting.
Over at CNet, Yahoo called its show “Prime Time in No Time” “the most watched original show in the history of the internet,” claiming 280 million streams in the 20 months or so since it launched last March. I guess Yahoo (and CNet) have never heard of Fred, Machinima or Smosh, three of the 17 YouTube channels — akin to shows in YouTube verbiage — that have each delivered more than 280 million views since they launched.
But wait, there’s more! Internet news site Mashable rolled out a “top 10 most watched” list with partner Visible Measures, claiming to show the most-watched web series for September 2009. The numbers are impressive, with Fred coming in at No. 1 with almost 21.5 million views, and Smosh with 13 million. How, exactly, are those views counted, though?
Where’s the Outrage Over Online Video Viewership Claims? – Advertising Age – DigitalNext
