Watch time
Also called: average view duration (AVD)
The total time people spend watching a video — and one of the metrics the algorithm weighs most heavily.
Watch time is the sum of every second watched across all viewers. Average view duration (AVD) is watch time ÷ views — the average number of seconds each viewer stuck around.
On short-form, raw watch time matters less than the percentage watched. A 20-second video watched in full beats a 60-second one people bail on at 15 seconds, even though the longer one logs more total seconds.
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