Dear ARMYs, I work in digital marketing and I always have to be updated about all Google and YouTube changes because of my work, so I made this site to share my knowledge and experience to help you understand what actually works and what doesn't when streaming and how we can help BTS videos have better performances.
YouTube uses an algorithm (automated system) to analyze views and choose which videos are more suggested and trend more on the site. Although the exact way this system works is kept a secret, there are some things we know about making views count and getting a video to perform better on YT and Google searches, so that it reaches more people. So here are a few ways to make it work.
Behaving like a bot (program that repeats tasks) may result in your views not counting. To avoid this, search the MV manually, turn off autoplay, click stuff, browse, don't replay the same videos over and over. Don't repeat your behaviour too much because if YT marks you as a bot the views from your account will ALL be deleted.
Having many comments helps a video rank higher, but don't overdo it! YT won’t count a watch from a user who leaves too many comments in a short time. I see many of you go crazy in the first day, leaving multiple messages one after another and for YT that is bot-like behaviour. Please don't do that if you want your views to count!
Watching the ads on the video won't help the view count so it doesn't really matter if you skip them or not. BUT remember, if you watch them, Big Hit will get that sweet sweet money that helps them be a strong stable company and take better care of our boys, so if you have time to spare, watch at least some of them.
Although many say 30 secs are enough, only YT knows exactly how long a video must be played to count. But one thing is certain: watch time is one of the main factors that makes a video succeed. YT doesn´t care much for the number of views, instead, videos with longer watch times rank better because that means they have good content. How long you play it impacts performance in searches and suggested videos, so watch till the end. You know you want to, anyway.
It seems YT counts repeat views on MV's if there's a gap of 30 mins between them, but due to their cache storage system it may work with less if you reload the page a couple of times. You can install an auto-refresh browser extension if you don't want to do it manually (Chrome, Firefox).
And while you wait to rewatch, play other videos, that engagement will help with performance and keep the algorithm from seeing you as a bot.
Don't skip forward and don't use repeat at the end, but it's fine if you pause or rewind some parts. According to YT going back actually helps with ranking because it tells them that the video has some content worth rewatching. So, replay that bit with the abs as many times as you find necessary for your emotional well-being ;P
Also, never close YT with a BTS MV open, this will hurt its performance (click on another video first and then leave).
You don't need the volume to be more than 50% like I've read out there. Volume does not affect views, you can play it low, just don't mute the video sound completely. Use the volume controls on your device to mute sound if you need complete silence. As for the video quality, it doesn't have to be HD, just don't use less than 480p.
Use playlists only if you have no other choice. The chances of being marked as a bot get higher if you use them and playlist streams will only get added to the views many hours later (sometimes more than a day later). So please don't use them to stream in the first day if you want to help break the 24h record for most views.
Don't stream on multiple windows/tabs if you are using just one browser, those extra tabs won't get us more views. Instead, you can stream on different browsers on your computer (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera) using a different YT account for each one. But remember, only one YT account per browser will add more views.
These seem to be the main reasons a lot of our real views are deleted and the only way we can fight it is by changing our IP address regularly. I'll explain next some easy ways you can do this.
And don't forget to keep streaming even when the video counter freezes, because your views are still being added by the algorithm and will appear when the counter restarts!
An exception to this are videos with autoplay. YT only counts external views generated by clicks so, only the videos you have to actively click/touch to watch will generate views.
Billboard has made a change in the way it counts video streams for the charts, now only the views that come from accounts that are logged in will count. So you can still add views by watching outside Youtube and they will count for records, but they won't count for Billboard charts. This is the article where they shared that info.
Sorry for the long "lesson", but I hope it helps ARMYs use their time in a more efficient way. Replaying the video too much might do more hurt than good if the algorithm thinks you're a bot. All your precious views may be lost. So please be careful and
