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Note that this is "average time on app", which draws two potential pitfalls: • Youtube is consumed A LOT on the website, including some people using the mobile

Note that this is "average time on app", which draws two potential pitfalls: • Youtube is consumed A LOT on the website, including some people using the mobile website (not the app) to keep it playing in the background (duh). This only compares average time on app. • It could also be totally skewed, if let's say 100M people spend 2h/day on average on Youtube, and 1k (a tiny amount) spend 2.5h/day on average on Tiktok, that'd be already good enough to say "average time per user spent on the apps is higher for TikTok". I haven't read the report, but wanted to point out these two warnings. As we say in Spanish, the easiest way to lie is with statistics. And of course any half-decent PR person will take any numbers and blow it up into a headline, so tread with caution. (Absolutely not wanting to discount on Tiktok, which has been growing at an incredible rate, just wanted to say that the wording on how exactly they are "winning" sounded a bit contrieved).

willcipriano 5y ago
I imagine NewPipe users alone could account for a large chunk of time. I leave it on overnight frequently.
- sluggosaurus 5y ago
  I'm under the vague impression that newpipe/youtube-dl users don't count towards view counts or watch times at all, since the anti-botting measures youtube has in place to prevent view-fraud would filter such users out of consideration for those metrics. Aren't youtube webpages filled with a bunch of JS telemetry to distinguish "real" viewers from bots?
jbluepolarbear 5y ago
I refuse to use the YouTube app. The ads have gotten so bad. The website I can use an ad blocker and it’s fine to watch. I try using the app iOS or TVOS and it’s 3 ads to start and an ad every 5 minutes.
- pininja 5y ago
  I recommend buying YouTube Premium. I’ve been a happy customer for a couple years now. It’s better for the creators compared to blocking ads too and they get paid based on your watch time. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6306276 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6306276
  - billti 5y ago
    I have YouTube premium and love it. I mostly watch it for music videos and technical talks, and love not having ads. Watch some kids shows too with the 5yo. I nearly always use the web site, even though I have the app on my phone. Full screen browser tab on the desktop just feels more “TV-like” and engaging than staring at the phone screen.
    - AlexanderTheGr8 5y ago
      why not use ublock origin, rather than buy youtube premium? UO will remove every single ad in browser. It's obviously 100% fine to buy premium; I am just curious about the reasons, if any.
      - codewithcheese 5y ago
        To remove ads on Mobile and Android TV
      - billti 5y ago
        As someone who lives very comfortably on a software engineer’s salary at a big software company, I generally avoid trying to “work around” their business models. If I’m going to use the software/service, I’m happy to pay those engineer’s salaries too. (And if it makes the product unusable, then I don’t use it).
      - askafriend 5y ago
        I like the simplicity of paying for it and knowing it’ll work everywhere without having to deal with work arounds. (I watch on at least 5 different platforms) I don’t mind the price - I love the straightforward model. I watch a ton of YouTube and want to support the business as well as creators (they get a cut of the subscription).
firecall 5y ago
The article also says "Data from app monitoring firm App Annie indicates that average time per user spent on the apps is higher for TikTok, indicating high levels of engagement." Now, I don't know for sure, but I cant imagine that YouTube is integrating App Annie metrics into their YouTube App, right? It's not like Google dont have their own metrics platform... And is TikTok really using App Annie? So where are they getting the data from? Are they including media streaming devices like ATV, Chromecast, Roku, and so on? Overall it's a misleading report that misrepresents the attention graph of platform consumption!
- est31 5y ago
  You can find out which app is currently opened in Android. Do this repeatedly and you get an impression for how long which app gets used. All App Annie needs to do is pay popular app vendors to ship their data collection SDK. They might not get perfect data like Google does, but large enough samples to make statements like this.
- est 5y ago
  > Now, I don't know for sure, but I cant imagine that YouTube is integrating App Annie metrics into their YouTube App, right? It's based on Android battery stats. You can download 3rd party battery stats from Google Play and view other app's usage time.
  - helsinkiandrew 5y ago
    Novel but this, and any other metric that App Annie is using, is only a crude approximation. An inefficient video codec would result in higher battery usage.
    - SilverRed 5y ago
      I'm pretty sure the battery stats also show the time the app was on the screen / active.
    - dannyw 5y ago
      They use hours, not battery drain.
B-Con 5y ago
Note particularly: > However, YouTube retains the top spot for overall time spent - not per user - as it has many more users overall. The HN title directly implies this, not the real start. It's misleading and needs to be changed.

willcipriano 5y ago

I imagine NewPipe users alone could account for a large chunk of time. I leave it on overnight frequently.

sluggosaurus 5y ago
I'm under the vague impression that newpipe/youtube-dl users don't count towards view counts or watch times at all, since the anti-botting measures youtube has in place to prevent view-fraud would filter such users out of consideration for those metrics. Aren't youtube webpages filled with a bunch of JS telemetry to distinguish "real" viewers from bots?

jbluepolarbear 5y ago

I refuse to use the YouTube app. The ads have gotten so bad. The website I can use an ad blocker and it’s fine to watch. I try using the app iOS or TVOS and it’s 3 ads to start and an ad every 5 minutes.

pininja 5y ago
I recommend buying YouTube Premium. I’ve been a happy customer for a couple years now. It’s better for the creators compared to blocking ads too and they get paid based on your watch time. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6306276 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6306276
- billti 5y ago
  I have YouTube premium and love it. I mostly watch it for music videos and technical talks, and love not having ads. Watch some kids shows too with the 5yo. I nearly always use the web site, even though I have the app on my phone. Full screen browser tab on the desktop just feels more “TV-like” and engaging than staring at the phone screen.
  - AlexanderTheGr8 5y ago
    why not use ublock origin, rather than buy youtube premium? UO will remove every single ad in browser. It's obviously 100% fine to buy premium; I am just curious about the reasons, if any.
    - codewithcheese 5y ago
      To remove ads on Mobile and Android TV
    - billti 5y ago
      As someone who lives very comfortably on a software engineer’s salary at a big software company, I generally avoid trying to “work around” their business models. If I’m going to use the software/service, I’m happy to pay those engineer’s salaries too. (And if it makes the product unusable, then I don’t use it).
    - askafriend 5y ago
      I like the simplicity of paying for it and knowing it’ll work everywhere without having to deal with work arounds. (I watch on at least 5 different platforms) I don’t mind the price - I love the straightforward model. I watch a ton of YouTube and want to support the business as well as creators (they get a cut of the subscription).

firecall 5y ago

The article also says "Data from app monitoring firm App Annie indicates that average time per user spent on the apps is higher for TikTok, indicating high levels of engagement." Now, I don't know for sure, but I cant imagine that YouTube is integrating App Annie metrics into their YouTube App, right? It's not like Google dont have their own metrics platform... And is TikTok really using App Annie? So where are they getting the data from? Are they including media streaming devices like ATV, Chromecast, Roku, and so on? Overall it's a misleading report that misrepresents the attention graph of platform consumption!

est31 5y ago
You can find out which app is currently opened in Android. Do this repeatedly and you get an impression for how long which app gets used. All App Annie needs to do is pay popular app vendors to ship their data collection SDK. They might not get perfect data like Google does, but large enough samples to make statements like this.
est 5y ago
> Now, I don't know for sure, but I cant imagine that YouTube is integrating App Annie metrics into their YouTube App, right? It's based on Android battery stats. You can download 3rd party battery stats from Google Play and view other app's usage time.
- helsinkiandrew 5y ago
  Novel but this, and any other metric that App Annie is using, is only a crude approximation. An inefficient video codec would result in higher battery usage.
  - SilverRed 5y ago
    I'm pretty sure the battery stats also show the time the app was on the screen / active.
  - dannyw 5y ago
    They use hours, not battery drain.

B-Con 5y ago

Note particularly: > However, YouTube retains the top spot for overall time spent - not per user - as it has many more users overall. The HN title directly implies this, not the real start. It's misleading and needs to be changed.