Hajra Naz
Key Highlights
- Views per long-form post climbed over the past year. Yet average view duration dropped at the same time.
- Metricool links falling ad revenue to shorter watch times. Fewer mid-roll ad slots followed.
- Channels tracking views alone would’ve missed this revenue decline entirely.
Metricool’s latest YouTube report reveals a strange pattern. Views on long-form videos are climbing. But watch time and ad revenue are both sliding downward.
The numbers tell a clear story. According to Metricool’s new study, long-form video views rose sharply this past year. Meanwhile, ads running against those videos dropped by half.
The research covers massive ground. Metricool analyzed 799,718 videos from 71,177 accounts globally. They compared February 2025 data against February 2026. Most figures represent per-post averages. Metricool builds YouTube scheduling and reporting tools. This data comes straight from linked platform accounts.
More Views, Shorter Sessions
Here’s what changed. Average views per long-form video hit 5,985 in February 2026. That’s up 76% from 3,405 the year before. But average view duration fell hard, dropping 37% from 3.98 minutes to 2.51 minutes.
Still, total watch time grew. Estimated minutes watched per post rose 11%, driven by higher view volume. Other metrics slipped, though. Interactions per view dropped from 2.38% to 1.30%. Total interactions per post barely moved, from 81.14 to 77.93. This suggests bigger view counts diluted engagement rates, not fewer actual interactions.
Following the Money
Revenue told a different story. Ad impressions per post fell from 976.32 to 475.07. Monetized playbacks, meaning views with an ad attached, dropped from 576.41 to 237.92.
Estimated ad revenue per post crashed from $2.65 to $1.20. YouTube Premium revenue dipped too, from $0.34 to $0.19. Metricool blames shorter view duration. Less watch time means fewer opportunities for mid-roll ads.
Read More: YouTube Explains Which AI Videos Can No Longer Make Money
What’s Left Unanswered
The report has gaps. Metricool doesn’t confirm if the same accounts appear in both time periods. Account and video counts aren’t broken down by year. Zero-impression posts and inactive accounts were excluded. No geographic data exists either, despite YouTube confirming that CPM varies by viewer location.
Why This Matters for Creators
Views and ad revenue no longer move together. This disconnect changes how creators should measure success. Chasing view count alone could mask a shrinking revenue stream.
Looking Forward
Metricool can’t pinpoint the exact cause. It might reflect changes in YouTube’s ad algorithm. Or it could reflect shifting audience behavior and content trends. YouTube’s own guidelines note that not every view gets an ad, depending on advertiser-friendly content and ad availability. Drawing platform-wide conclusions from two isolated months remains risky.
